Verlet.js - physics engine based on the Verlet method

The Verle method of numerical integration has long been used to calculate particle trajectories. The method itself was first used in 1791 by the French astronomer Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre. In 1907, the Norwegian mathematician and physicist Karl Störmer used it to simulate the movement of particles in a magnetic field, so this method is sometimes called the Störmer method. The current name of this algorithm was given on behalf of the French physicist Lou Verlet, who in 1967 used it in the modeling of molecular dynamics. Recently, the Verlet method has been used in the development of computer games.



The Verlet.js library, published on Gitkhab only a week ago, has already managed to gain more than 1,700 subscribers, which makes it one of the most popular physics engines JavaScript. So far, Verlet.js only works in two-dimensional space. The author plans to make the library three-dimensional and get rid of the hard binding to the canvas, so that you can use advanced and optimized rendering engines, for example, three.js.



Examples of the use of the library (simple geometric forms , cloth , fractal trees and a spider on the web ) emphasize the specificity of the Verlet method - they are all systems of particles united by flexible bonds, and not solid bodies.