Exploring Relativistic World of Electromagnetism on Computer

Abstract

It is the theoretical structure of electromagnetism that led Einstein to special relativity. To foster an intuitive understanding of relativity's core idea, it is valuable to create a fully special relativistic computer simulation incorporating electromagnetic dynamics. In this paper, we provide a basic formulation for such an implementation. Specifically, the player observes the world via their past light cone and experiences the Lorentz force generated by the electromagnetic field at their spacetime location. The electromagnetic field at any given spacetime point is determined by the sublight-speed motion of individual point charges on the past light cone of that spacetime point.