This program has the ability to perform a simulation of N number of point masses interacting via Newton's universal law of gravitation, in a 3D space.
Two different integration methods can be used during the simulation, Velocity Verlet and Runge-Kutta. Velocity Verlet is written using original code, whereas the Runge-Kutta method is written using the GSL library.
The easiest way to download the code is to press the download button on the home page of the GitHub repository.
To run the program a C compiler is required, along with the following libraries: stdio.h, stdlib.h, string.h, math.h, stdbool.h and various modules of the gsl library.
This program will run from the command line, after being compiled. The command line arguments take the form:
./a.out -integration_system -input_file -time_step -total_sim_time
The integration systems available are outlined at the top of this file and are expressed as v and r respectively.
The input file must take the following form:
Each line contains information on a single object.
It will have information in this order: name, mass, x-position, y-position, z-position, x-velocity, y-velocity, z-velocity.
Data on the simulation is automatically printed to pre-named files.
Images of the orbits of particles in the simulation can be toggled to be shwon after the simulation.
In certain situations, for example using the Sun-Earth-Moon initial conditions given, information on specific attricutes, such as the Earth's orbital period in the simulation can be printed to stdout.
Initial version uploaded to GitHub.