Illumination and acceleration in the visualization of special relativity: a comment on fast rendering of relativistic objects
Daniel Weiskopf, U. Kraus, H. Ruder · The Journal of Visualization and Computer Animation · 2000
We address the issue of illumination and acceleration in special relativistic visualization. Betts (J. Visual. Comput. Animat. 1998; 9: 17–31) presents an incorrect derivation of the transformation of the Rayleigh–Jeans radiation, which we compare to the correct transformation of radiance in the framework of special relativity. His rendering algorithm can be modified to correctly account for the relativistic effects on illumination. Furthermore, we show how acceleration can be included in special relativistic visualization by calculating the trajectory of accelerating objects, which is a prerequisite for a physically based camera model. Therefore interaction and animation in special relativistic visualization are possible. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.