Special Theory of Relativity
(Published on 18. October 2024, 16:00 by Tobias Brixner)
Puzzle link: Play on SudokuPad.
CTC-Video: Now featured on the Cracking the Cryptic YouTube channel. Many thanks!
Rules: Normal Sudoku rules apply. Each cage marks a spaceship that is initially at rest in the solver's reference frame, i.e., the grid. Digits may repeat within a spaceship if allowed by other rules. Each spaceship then accelerates to a high velocity and moves in an orthogonal direction without changing its orientation. The solver must find its new position that is fully inside the grid. Spaceship position marks must not overlap. As a consequence of the special theory of relativity, each moving spaceship is contracted along its direction of motion, i.e., its shape is scaled down in the solver’s reference frame. The length of the spaceship at rest divided by the observed length of the spaceship in motion is called Lorentz factor. The size is unchanged perpendicular to the direction of motion. The energy of a spaceship is given by the sum of its digits. The energy of a spaceship in motion is equal to its energy at rest multiplied with the Lorentz factor. Cells connected by an X sum to 10.
Your feedback, ratings and comments are highly appreciated. Have fun!
Background: The special theory of relativity is a fundamental theory of motion and also applies at very high speeds close to the speed of light. If an object moves very fast in an observer's frame of reference, the observer notices a shortened length of the object in the direction of movement (Lorentz contraction). The ratio of the length at rest to the length in motion is the Lorentz factor. This factor also indicates how the total energy of the object increases, exactly as described in the rules of the puzzle.
Solution code: All digits of row 8 (from left to right) followed by column 8 (from top to bottom) without spaces.
Comments
on 15. November 2024, 07:13 by QuiltyAsCharged
As a sudoku solver, sci-fi aficionado, and armchair physicist, I felt like this was designed just for me! It's fantastic
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That's great, thank you so much for commenting! I have several other physics-related puzzles released if you care about that theme. - TB
on 8. November 2024, 11:27 by Firebird
I love the concept and how well it corresponds to the actual physics, really beautiful! The flow of the puzzle was very nice, well done!
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Thanks a lot for your very kind comment. - TB
on 3. November 2024, 19:31 by OGRussHood
This puzzle is mad.
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I take this as a good sign... - TB
on 2. November 2024, 19:04 by Tobias Brixner
Added link to CTC video.
on 30. October 2024, 15:11 by Mennoo_
Brilliant puzzle! very neat idea to be applied in a sudoku and very well executed!
Reading the rules my initial thought was: wait WHAT? But once you get into it, it's actually pretty understandable and easy (Although I had to use a sheet of paper to make some notations hehe)
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That's great that you enjoyed it, thank you! - TB
on 29. October 2024, 22:19 by samuel1997
Terrific ruleset! The hardest part of this puzzle is understanding the rules, but once I comprehend it, it is relatively easy compare to other puzzle!
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Many thanks! - TB
on 18. October 2024, 18:57 by Briks
Really beautiful! Great puzzle!
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Thank you so much! - TB
on 18. October 2024, 17:06 by pms_headache
Wow. That was *relatively* weird and delightfully *special*! What a surprising rule set. Thanks for an excellent puzzle!
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Glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting! - TB
