What is this?

This is a physically accurate simulation of a black hole, based on the Einstein field equations from the general theory of relativity. Specifically, it simulates the curved spacetime around a spherically symmetric mass with no angular momentum or charge, known as the Schwarzschild metric.

How to use this?

Simply enter the parameters for your black hole and click "Update," or check "Update automatically" to see changes to the render immediately. Here is a breakdown of the parameter meanings:

• View angle: Determines the latitude in degrees from which you are observing the black hole. Values above 45 or below -45 may produce artifacts due to the use of a simple projection (to be improved).
• Distance: The distance from which you are viewing the black hole. It is fixed at a value of 5 and cannot be changed.
• Scale: The scale of the image, which is related to the field of view.
• Schwarzschild radius: The radius of the event horizon, given by \[r_s=\frac{2GM}{c^2},\] where \(M\) denotes the object's mass, \(G\) is the universal gravitational constant, and \(c\) is the speed of light in a vacuum. Enter 0 for no spacetime curvature.
• Accretion disc radius and thickness: These parameters are self-explanatory. The accretion disc is the only visible element in the simulation.
• Iteration count: The number of iterations performed during the simulation. This directly affects the simulation quality. Warning: Setting this value too high may result in a browser freeze or crash! Values below 500 will cause significant artifacts.
• Update automatically: Renders the image every time any value is changed. For the best performance avoid using this option with a high iteration count.