Procyonsoft

Research

Galactic Dynamics Lab

An open computational environment for implementing alternative gravitational models and comparing them against established physics under shared simulation conditions.

Status: active developmentReviewed: 7/17/2026

Test new models of gravity without rebuilding the laboratory

Scientific simulation often begins after the governing equations have already been chosen. Galactic Dynamics Lab creates room to question that choice. It allows alternative gravitational and field models to be implemented as interchangeable physics packages and evaluated beside a Newtonian baseline within the same computational environment.

Galactic Dynamics Lab provides a shared simulation environment for implementing alternative physics, comparing it with Newtonian behavior, and examining how different mathematical assumptions shape simulated systems. Its research value lies in making those assumptions explicit, interchangeable, and open to controlled comparison.

What changes when the equations change?

Comparing different theories is difficult when each one is implemented in a separate codebase with different assumptions, integrators, inputs, outputs, and diagnostic conventions. Those differences can make it harder to tell whether a result came from the mathematical model or from the laboratory built around it.

Galactic Dynamics Lab aims to reduce those confounding differences by providing shared handling for:

By keeping the surrounding computational environment consistent, the lab makes differences between models easier to inspect, reproduce, and discuss.

A laboratory built around interchangeable physics

The authoritative simulator is a native C++ runtime. Gravitational behavior is supplied through compiled physics packages, with Newtonian gravity serving as the established comparison baseline.

Alternative packages can define their own acceleration behavior, diagnostics, metadata, and research-specific modes. Python tools support plotting, diagnostics, analysis, and post-processing rather than operating as a second simulation runtime.

The package-oriented design allows new models to be introduced without requiring a separate simulation platform for every theory.

Compare models under shared conditions

The simulator supports running different physics packages from the same computational environment and comparable starting assumptions. The strongest comparison is not between two unrelated demonstrations. It is between two models asked to solve the same problem inside the same laboratory.

Public-safe comparison capabilities include:

Shared workflows make the assumptions, conditions, and resulting differences behind each comparison more visible.

Transformational Physics Framework as the first major case study

Transformational Physics Framework, or TPF, has been the principal alternative framework explored through Galactic Dynamics Lab. Implemented as the TPFCore physics package, it has been used to examine field structures, diagnostics, weak-field correspondence, and experimental model paths. Controlled simulator tests verified that the implemented TPF weak-field correspondence route reproduced Newtonian acceleration and trajectory behavior, within recorded numerical precision, across single-source, galaxy-style, and small-N scenarios.

This establishes the expected correspondence behavior for the implemented and tested regime, while broader TPF research is documented separately.

A separate TPF manuscript is ready for publication and documents the theoretical framework independently of the simulation platform.

Galactic Dynamics Lab is the computational research environment; TPF is one theoretical framework investigated within it.

Research runs that explain themselves

A simulation image is not enough. Galactic Dynamics Lab is designed to preserve the configuration, model identity, and resolved conditions behind the result.

Simulation runs can preserve structured records such as:

These records help researchers determine what model, assumptions, and resolved conditions produced a result.

Verification and reproducibility

The project uses unit, integration, regression, and end-to-end tests to verify:

Together, these checks help ensure that model comparisons are reproducible, configuration choices remain traceable, and implementation changes do not silently alter established behavior. Scientific interpretation can then proceed from a clearly documented computational foundation.

Built to be extended

Galactic Dynamics Lab is publicly available and intended for researchers or developers who want to:

New physics still requires careful implementation. The lab provides the shared computational foundation so that every new model does not require an entirely new simulator.

View the public repository: https://github.com/danielrochatka/galactic-dynamics-lab.

Current capabilities

Current capabilities include:

Current stage

A functioning open research simulator in active development.

The native simulator is implemented. Newtonian and TPF packages are available. Model-comparison workflows, structured outputs, and test infrastructure exist. Controlled TPF-to-Newtonian correspondence tests have been completed, and package isolation and extensibility have been deliberate engineering priorities.

Continued development can expand the range of physics packages, comparative studies, research diagnostics, and contributor workflows supported by the lab.

A place to question the starting equations

Galactic Dynamics Lab is built around a simple research principle: the equations governing a simulation should be testable components, not invisible assumptions embedded permanently into the laboratory. By giving alternative models a shared computational environment and an established comparison baseline, the project creates a practical place to explore how different mathematical descriptions of gravity behave.