SpaceTime Visualizer

An interactive educational tool for visualizing special relativity concepts including time dilation, relativistic mass, and spacetime diagrams.

Features

• Interactive visualization of relativistic effects
• Real-time calculations of:
  • Time dilation
  • Relativistic mass
  • Energy (rest, kinetic, total)
  • Spacetime components
• Dark theme interface optimized for physics visualization
• Animated clock visualization for time dilation
• Dynamic spacetime diagrams

Installation

Using pip (Option 1)

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/spacetime-visualizer.git
cd spacetime-visualizer

2. Create and activate a virtual environment (recommended):

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Using Conda (Option 2)

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/spacetime-visualizer.git
cd spacetime-visualizer

2. Create and activate a Conda environment:

conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate spacetime-visualizer

Usage

Run the application using:

python run_spacetime_visualizer.py

The interface is divided into several sections:

• Left panel: Educational content and explanations
• Center: Interactive visualizations
• Right panel: Control parameters and calculations

Technical Details

Built using:

• PyQt5 for the GUI
• pyqtgraph for high-performance scientific graphics
• NumPy for calculations
• Python 3.8+

Project Structure

spacetime_visualizer/
├── run_spacetime_visualizer.py  # Main entry point
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── physics.py              # Relativistic calculations
│   ├── ui.py                   # Main UI components
│   ├── visualizations.py       # Plot management
│   ├── clock_visualization.py  # Time dilation animation
│   └── config.py              # Theme and constants
├── requirements.txt
└── README.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.