Virtual spacetime: an environment for the visualization of curved spacetimes via geodesic flows

An implementation of a virtual environment for visualizing the geometry of curved spacetime by the display of interactive geodesics is described. This technique displays the paths of particles under the influence of gravity as described by the general theory of relativity and is useful in the investigation of solutions to the field equations of that theory. A boom-mounted six-degree-of-freedom head-position-sensitive stereo CRT system is used for display. A hand-position-sensitive glove controller is used to control the initial positions and directions of geodesics in spacetime. A multiprocessor graphics workstation is used for computation and rendering. Several techniques for visualizing the geometry of spacetime using geodesics are discussed. Although this work is described exclusively in the context of physical four-dimensional spacetimes, it extends to arbitrary geometries in arbitrary dimensions. While this work is intended for researchers, it is also useful for the teaching of general relativity