Relativity visualized
Space Time Travel

Visualization of the theory of relativity.
Online papers, images, movies and paper models by Ute Krausexternal link and Corvin Zahnexternal link (Institut für Physik, Universität Hildesheim, Germanyexternal link).

This is an English version of the German site

www.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.deexternal link

 

Relativity visualized

Schwarzes Loch

The theory of relativity holds a certain fascination for many people. At the same time it is often regarded as very abstract and difficult to understand.

Part of the difficulties in understanding relativity are due to the fact that relativistic effects contradict everyday experience. Motion, for example, is a familiar process and everybody "knows from experience" that it entails neither time dilation nor length contraction. A flight with half the speed of light could correct this misjudgement but is not on offer.

A possible alternative are simulations. Images, films and virtual reality let us in a sense experience relativistic flights, gravitational collapse, compact objects and other extreme conditions.

 

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Content

Symbols: NEW: new article TM: article with teaching material

Sector models - a toolkit for teaching general relativity

Sector models - a toolkit for teaching general relativity: I. Curved spaces and spacetimes  TM
Sector models - a toolkit for teaching general relativity: II. Geodesics  TM
Sector models - a toolkit for teaching general relativity: III. Spacetime geodesics  TM
Teaching gravitational light deflection  TM

Visualization of special relativity

Main article: Motion near the cosmic speed limit
The Ball is Round
Sights that Einstein could not yet see - visualization of relativistic effects
Rolling Wheels
Brightness and color of rapidly moving objects: The visual appearance of a large sphere revisited
Main article: Through the city at nearly the speed of light
Visual observations in high speed flight
Accelerated motion
Relativistic Flight through a Lattice

Visualization of general relativity

Main article: Destination Black Hole
Step by Step into a Black Hole
Flight through a Wormhole
Light Deflection Near Neutron Stars
The "Real" Einstein Ring
Interactive Black Hole
Röntgenpulsare in German
Four-dimensional ray traycing in a curved spacetime

Student lab on relativistic physics

Animationen zur Relativitätstheorie  TM
Gravitational Waves: Models and Experiments on Waveforms, Effects and Detection  TM

Multi-focus contributions

First-person visualizations of the special and general theory of relativity

Materials

Gallery – Free Images
Film Index
Sector Models – Cut-out Sheets

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Authors: Ute Kraus, Corvin Zahn, Date: 2023-10-28 16:36:38
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