Sysquake Pro – Table of Contents
Sysquake for LaTeX – Table of Contents
gravity.sq
Chaotic trajectory of an asteroid
Stars can be moved in a plane, and the trajectory of an asteroid
is displayed
First contact
Two stars lie in a plane, with a relative mass of 1 and 2. The gravity field they create is represented with equipotential curves. The trajectory of an asteroid is displayed in black. The position of the stars and the initial position and velocity (displayed in red) of the asteroid can be changed with the mouse.
Settings
Integration Time
The trajectory of the asteroid is integrated with the Runge-Kutta algorithm and variable time step. Because of the chaotic behavior of the system, the approximation caused by the numeric integration and the finite-precision numbers make the simulated trajectory diverge from the "real" trajectory; but the chaotic behavior is preserved.
The integration time step is variable. It is based on the velocity during the previous step to obtain a fixed distance, with minimum and maximum values. Total time length of integration can be specified.
Draw Potential Energy
When selected, the potential energy is drawn as contour lines.
Draw Speed
When selected, speed vectors are displayed along the trajectory. Since the total energy is preserved, speed vectors are visible only when the potential energy is low, i.e. near the stars.