Informational Tests

This directory contains tests that are not part of the standard test suite. These tests are provided for informational purposes only and should be run separately.

Purpose

Informational tests are designed to:

Explore simulation boundaries and limits
Provide diagnostic information about the simulation
Test extreme or edge cases that don't fit into normal test suites
Help understand system behavior under various conditions

Running Informational Tests

Informational tests are not run by make test. To build and run them:

cd tests/informational
make
./time_step_test

Current Tests

`test_time_step_stability.cpp`

Determines the maximum stable time step for the RK4 integration across different orbital regimes.

Test Bodies:

Mercury Orbiter (MESSENGER-like): 200 km altitude, ~12 hour period
Io (Jupiter's moon): 421,700 km orbit, ~1.77 day period
Moon (Earth's moon): 384,400 km orbit, ~27.3 day period

Stability Criteria:

Energy drift < 1% over 100 orbits
Distance drift < 5%
No SOI transitions (body doesn't change parent)

Configuration: Uses test_time_step_stability.toml

Usage:

# From project root directory:
./tests/informational/test_time_step_stability

# Or using the Makefile:
cd tests/informational
make run-timestep

# Run specific test case
./tests/informational/test_time_step_stability '[timestep][stability]'

# Run with verbose output to see binary search progress
./tests/informational/test_time_step_stability -s "[timestep][stability]"

Note: Tests must be run from the project root directory because config file paths are relative to the root.

Expected Output: The test performs a binary search to find the maximum stable time step, printing progress for each dt value tested. Results show the minimum stable dt across all tested bodies with recommendations.

Adding New Informational Tests

Create a new .cpp file in this directory
Add corresponding .toml config file if needed

Add a target in the Makefile:

your_test_name: your_test_name.o
	g++ $(BUILD_DIR)/*.o -o $@ -lCatch2Main -lCatch2 -lm

Update this README with test description
Follow the naming convention: test_<purpose>.cpp and test_<purpose>.toml

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