Simultaneous Events Program

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written by Kiril Simov and Wolfgang Christian

The Simultaneous Events program displays the effect of relative motion on the relative ordering of events in special relativity. In the default scenario two simultaneous events are observed in a stationary reference frame (the Other Frame) and the spacetime diagram of the observation of these events is depicted in another reference frame (the Home Frame). The slider can be used to change the relative speed between the two frames.

Simultaneous Events is an Open Source Physics program written for the teaching of special relativity. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the sr_simultaneous.jar file will run the program if Java is installed. Other special relativity programs are also available. They can be found by searching ComPADRE for Open Source Physics, OSP, or Relativity.

Please note that this resource requires at least version 1.5 of Java.

.jar

download 777kb .jar
Last Modified: May 12, 2015
previous versions

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Relative Motion = Moving Reference Frames Relativity - Reference Frames - Spacetime Fundamentals - Special Relativity = Simultaneity	- Lower Undergraduate - Upper Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Interactive Simulation

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Learners - Professional/Practitioners - Educators	- application/java	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2008 Wolfgang Christian
Additional information is available.
Keywords:: OSP, Open Source Physics, events, inertial reference frames, reference frames, simultaneity, simultaneous, spacetime diagram, special relativity
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created May 23, 2008 by Mario Belloni
Record Updated:: May 12, 2015 by Wolfgang Christian
Last Update when Cataloged:: May 1, 2008
Other Collections:: The Spacetime Emporium

The Open Source Physics

Possible bug in the simultaneous events program

Author: Duncan Galloway
Posted: April 29, 2015 at 5:27AM
Source: The Open Source Physics collection

Hi,
we have been using the simultaneous events program for some years, and have noticed what appears to be a minor bug. The gradient of the world line does not agree with the 1/v that we expect. It is actually measurably steeper.

For example, with beta=0.5, the world line beginning at the left (i.e. the left end of the rod) passes through the points (-0.5,0.83) and (0.,2.03), indicating a gradient of 2.4, where it should be 2. Here is a link for an illustrative diagram: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12977207/simultaneous.jpg

This does not seem to be a platform issue, as we've experienced it on both Macs and Linux desktops. I hope you can suggest a workaround or solution

Thanks
Duncan

» reply

Re: Possible bug in the simultaneous events program

Author: Wolfgang
Posted: May 6, 2015 1:55PM UTC

Thanks for point out the error in Simov's model. I will try and fix it this summer. In the meantime, you can use the following.

http://www.opensourcephysics.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=10383

» reply

Re: Re: Possible bug in the simultaneous events program

Author: Wolfgang
Posted: May 12, 2015 7:30AM UTC

Bug in worldline slope has been fixed.

» reply

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ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=7237">Simov, Kiril, and Wolfgang Christian. "Simultaneous Events Program." Version 1.0.</a>

AIP Format

K. Simov and W. Christian, Computer Program SIMULTANEOUS EVENTS PROGRAM, Version 1.0 (2008), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410).

AJP/PRST-PER

K. Simov and W. Christian, Computer Program SIMULTANEOUS EVENTS PROGRAM, Version 1.0 (2008), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410>.

APA Format

Simov, K., & Christian, W. (2008). Simultaneous Events Program (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410

Chicago Format

Simov, Kiril, and Wolfgang Christian. "Simultaneous Events Program." Version 1.0. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410 (accessed 7 December 2024).

MLA Format

Simov, Kiril, and Wolfgang Christian. Simultaneous Events Program. Vers. 1.0. Computer software. 2008. Java 1.5. 7 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Kiril Simov and Wolfgang Christian", Title = {Simultaneous Events Program}, Month = {May}, Year = {2008} }

Refer Export Format

%A Kiril Simov %A Wolfgang Christian %T Simultaneous Events Program %D May 1, 2008 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410 %O 1.0 %O application/java

EndNote Export Format

%0 Computer Program %A Simov, Kiril %A Christian, Wolfgang %D May 1, 2008 %T Simultaneous Events Program %7 1.0 %8 May 1, 2008 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7237&DocID=410

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

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