"Simple" 4D Kerr Geodesics simulator, source code and docs

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SUMMARY

The "Simple" 4D Kerr Geodesics simulator is a concise tool for simulating particle and light orbits in a Kerr spacetime, implemented primarily in Vala with a Python port available. The simulator, which operates on Linux systems such as Debian Wheezy and Ubuntu Trusty, includes an initial conditions generator and has recently been updated to incorporate the cosmological constant. The project is BSD licensed and features approximately 100 lines of code, making it accessible for users familiar with executing shell scripts. Documentation and dependencies are provided in the README file.

PREREQUISITES
  • Familiarity with Vala programming language
  • Basic understanding of general relativity and Kerr spacetime
  • Experience with shell scripting on Linux
  • Knowledge of numerical methods, specifically the Runge-Kutta method (RK4)
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore advanced features of the Kerr Geodesics simulator, focusing on the cosmological constant implementation
  • Learn about Vala programming for further development of the simulator
  • Study the Runge-Kutta method in depth to enhance simulation accuracy
  • Investigate additional general relativity simulations to compare methodologies
USEFUL FOR

Researchers, physicists, and developers interested in general relativity simulations, particularly those working with Kerr spacetime and numerical methods in programming.

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Looks like my main pet GR project is about to enter something akin to maintenance mode, since it now does all I currently need it to.

It's nothing earth-shattering at first glance, but is very concise (e.g. ~100 lines of Python for the simulator script) and should be easier to understand than most simulation sources that I have seen ;) I can't really give any visuals here, but I think the way it is implemented is seriously neat, and not published anywhere as far as I know.

It works for particle and light orbits (spherical and "spherical shell", including polar), and even has an initial conditions generator script. To run it you will need a Linux box (tested on Debian Wheezy & Ubuntu Trusty) or virtual machine (VirtualBox works), and also need to be used to executing shell scripts. The README in the project lists dependencies and some example commands to get you started.

Here is the project (this one is BSD licenced), and here is a little paper/technical note that I knocked up to try to explain what's going on under the covers. Hope someone out there finds it useful . . .
 
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UPDATED - NEW LINKS

  • I've now added the cosmological constant to my simulator (dev branch recommended).
  • The primary language of the simulator is now Vala, but I have included a Python port of the RK4 version.
  • Equations are taken from this paper.
 

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