Billiard trajectories following geodesics on a curved surface, reflecting off boundaries
This program traces geodesics on a surface, reflecting them when they reach a boundary, analogous to a billiard ball bouncing inside a table. On a curved surface, the geodesic equation involves Christoffel symbols derived from the induced metric, so the billiard trajectories are influenced by the Gaussian curvature. The reflection law is adapted to the surface geometry using the metric tensor.
Controls: Click and drag to orbit, scroll to zoom.
