TIDAL Documentation#
TIDAL (Tensor Integration and Derivation for Any Lagrangian) is a symbolic physics pipeline that derives PDEs from Lagrangians using xAct/Mathematica and simulates them numerically with py-pde. All equation structure comes from symbolic computation — no physics is hardcoded.
Key Features#
Symbolic Pipeline: Lagrangian → Euler-Lagrange → Component Decomposition → JSON → PDE Simulation
CLI Tool:
tidalcommand with derive, simulate, measure, inspect, list, and validate subcommands20 Working Examples: Spanning 1+1D through 3+1D spacetimes
Multi-Field Support: Scalars, vectors, and rank-3+ tensors with cross-field coupling
Curvilinear Coordinates: Automatic Christoffel symbol computation for non-Cartesian grids
Parameter Sweeps: Override symbolic coefficients at runtime without re-deriving
900+ Python Tests + ~115 Wolfram Tests: Comprehensive validation of both pipeline stages
Quick Start#
Install and run:
# Install
uv sync --all-extras
# List available equation specifications
tidal list
# Simulate a Klein-Gordon field
tidal simulate examples/data/klein_gordon_1d.json --t-end 20 --ic gaussian
# Derive equations from a Lagrangian (requires wolframscript)
tidal derive examples/scalar_field/theory.toml --run
# Inspect an equation system
tidal inspect examples/data/chern_simons.json
# Run a pipeline example
cd examples/scalar_field && bash run.sh
API Reference