Unfolding a Hypercube

Sep 7, 2024 3:36 PM

16 identical charged particles are connected together by 32 springs so that the topology of the system is that of a 4-dimensional hypercube. The 4D coordinates of each particle are (x,y,z,w). The particles are initially positioned randomly. The system evolves over time, with the charged particles repelling each other, and the springs holding the system together despite the repulsion. Friction eventually brings the system to rest in the form of a convex hypercube. Note that the dynamics occur in 4 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time, based on a 4D version of the Coulomb force and a 4D version of the spring force. The image is a projection into 2D, with the (x,y) coordinates displayed and the (z,w) coordinates discarded. It's also kind of neat to reflect on the fact that a 3D computer can simulate physics in higher dimensions with no problems at all, aside from not being able to fully visualize the results.

geometry

animation

physics

simulation