Special Relativity Lab

Four linked interactive demonstrations of special relativity phenomena, designed for classroom exploration. Tab 1 – Terrell-Penrose effect: visualize how moving objects appear twisted/rotated due to light-travel-time delays (the optical illusion of Lorentz contraction viewed from rest frame). Tab 2 – Spacetime diagram: explore Minkowski diagrams with worldlines, light cones, events, and simultaneity surfaces; manipulate objects and see how simultaneity surfaces tilt with velocity. Tab 3 – Starfield flight: accelerate through a star field and observe aberration (stars appear to drift toward the direction of motion) and Doppler shift (color changes as you approach/recede from sources). Tab 4 – Light clock: animate a photon bouncing between two mirrors to visualize time dilation; compare clock ticks in the rest frame vs moving frame, showing how moving clocks run slow by factor γ. Each tab has a velocity slider (β = v/c, 0–0.995) with keyboard control (arrow keys fine adjust, shift for coarse steps). Play/pause button for animations. Real-time readouts of derived quantities: Lorentz factor γ, time dilation factor, length contraction factor. Educational note panels explain the physics behind each effect. Preset buttons for common velocities (0, 0.5c, 0.9c, etc.). Designed for classroom demonstration and student exploration of relativistic intuition.