Hendrick Research

Chase Hendrick updated

Tools for the burnt scrolls of Herculaneum, and proofs a computer can check.

Hendrick Research builds open software for the Vesuvius Challenge, the effort to read the Herculaneum papyri from X-ray scans without opening them. Alongside that: 10 preprints of computer-assisted proofs, in fluid dynamics, neuroscience and dynamical systems, and a few things made for fun.

The scroll toolsThe papers

Virtual unwrapping, in one line: trace the rolled sheet, then lay it flat so the columns sit side by side.A drawing, not a scan. Move across it to unroll.

1Vesuvius Challenge

The scans are public; the hard part is everything after the scan. These tools trace and check papyrus surfaces, compare ink models against controls, and make large data easier to reach. They are tools and model outputs. None of them reads new text.

A published PHerc0139 segment mesh in Segment Lens. Vesuvius Challenge open data, CC BY-NC 4.0.
Segment Lens. A published PHerc0139 segment mesh in Segment Lens. Vesuvius Challenge open data, CC BY-NC 4.0.
VC3D driven by an agent on PHerc0139. Vesuvius Challenge open data, CC BY-NC 4.0.
Headless VC3D. VC3D driven by an agent on PHerc0139. Vesuvius Challenge open data, CC BY-NC 4.0.
The Lasagna Fields Space.
Lasagna Fields. The Space.
Starter’s practice exercise. Synthetic pixels, not a scan.
Scrolls Starter. Starter’s practice exercise. Synthetic pixels, not a scan.
  1. ViewersUmbiliciEvery known public center line for 35 scans, 91 lines from seven sources, drawn in 3D over the CT.Space
  2. SurfacesRingleaderLabels every sheet pixel of a z-slice with its winding in one convex solve, scored against hand windings with controls.Code
  3. PipelineAutoPipeline 0.1.11Runs villa’s VC3D tools and ink detection on a released scan, from surface checks to ink maps scored with controls.Package
  4. SurfacesPartingWhere two papyrus layers touch, scores whether a point is on the same layer or the next.Code
  5. ViewersVesuvius RadarNew papers, code, models and data that could help read the scrolls, collected from public sources around the clock.Space
  6. SurfacesLasagnettaA fast preview of villa’s lasagna field, 5.2 times faster than villa predict3d end to end, with a self-check against villa.Model
  7. ViewersInk AtlasSeven public ink models on the same First Letters surfaces, side by side on one 9.6 µm canvas.Space
  8. DataAFV Fibers23.2 million papyrus fiber curves from Qual’s AFV V2 for six whole scans, as files VC3D opens.Dataset
  9. SurfacesSnapped LabelsEvery published surface label of four scrolls, moved onto the papyrus recto face, with a viewer on live CT.Dataset
  10. InkCrackle CheckAsks one ink model whether a small patch shows ink crackle, with the reversed layer order as its control.Space
  11. ChecksFiber CheckerA free per-patch map of whether papyrus fibers are visible on a traced surface, with a self-check on every run.Space
  12. DataLasagna FieldsWhole-scan lasagna fields for 24 scrolls, with a Space to find them or make a new one.Dataset
  13. InkInk LensChecks one region of a VC3D segment for ink in seconds, keeping only ink above its own reversed-depth control.Space
  14. ViewersSegment LensPublished segment meshes with geometry warnings and the Segment Atlas table.Space
  15. PipelineHeadless VC3DAn MCP server and shell command that let an AI agent run villa’s VC3D tools with no display.Package
  16. Datadinovol embeddingsThe whole PHerc0841 scan run through the organizers’ dinovol model, to search and cluster without a GPU.Dataset
  17. ViewersScroll LensWhat the organizers’ 3D models see inside a cube of a public scan.Space
  18. InkInkfilterModel-free maps from a surface-volume window, each with a reversed-depth control. Not a trained reader.Package
  19. PipelineScrolls StarterA beginner path in the browser: a synthetic exercise with a control, a setup checker and a command builder.Page
  20. ViewersUnrollVirtually unrolls scroll scans in 3D in the browser, with ink layers, CT tools and an Ink Bench.Space

Field guide and first stepsWhat each tool needsSource on GitHub

2Papers

Computer-assisted proofs: every inequality is decided in interval or ball arithmetic, and the programs ship with the paper. These are preprints and have not been peer reviewed.

  1. 01

    Fluid dynamics

    Minimal Winding in the Self-Similar Collapse of Point Vortices

    Sharp winding bounds and computer-assisted results for collapsing vortex configurations.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  2. 02

    Fluid dynamics

    Point-Vortex Collapse Without Rotation: A Cluster Mechanism, a Phase Diagram and a Continuum Limit

    Cluster mechanisms and numerical phase diagrams for vortex collapse without rotation.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  3. 03

    Fluid dynamics

    Stable Self-Similar Expansion of Four and Five Point Vortices and Confinement of Vortex Patches

    Computer-assisted configurations, nonlinear stability, and confinement estimates.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  4. 04

    Neuroscience

    A Finite Rank Window Cannot Show That a Neural Population Code Satisfies the Eigenspectrum Smoothness Bound

    The limits of inferring asymptotic smoothness from finite neural eigenspectra.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  5. 05

    Neuroscience

    Hopf Bifurcations and Bistability in the Hodgkin-Huxley Equations at the 1952 Parameters: Computer-Assisted Proofs

    Computer-assisted analysis of equilibrium stability and bistability in the classical model.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  6. 06

    Dynamical systems

    Chaos and Analytic Non-Integrability of the Classical Double Pendulum: A Computer-Assisted Proof

    Interval arithmetic proofs for chaotic dynamics at specified energies.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  7. 07

    Neuroscience

    Traveling Pulses in a Neural Field with a Smooth Firing Rate: Computer-Assisted Existence and Spectral Stability

    Computer-assisted pulse existence and spectral stability in neural field models.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  8. 08

    Neuroscience

    The Propagated Action Potential of Hodgkin and Huxley at Their 1952 Constants: A Computer-Assisted Existence Proof

    A computer-assisted existence proof for the propagated action potential at two temperatures.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  9. 09

    Cardiac electrophysiology

    Stable Rotating Waves in Rings of a Modified Ventricular Cell Model: Computer-Assisted Proofs

    Computer-assisted proofs of stable rotating waves in rings of a ventricular cell model.

    PDFDOICode and checks

  10. 10

    Cryptography

    Excluding Classical Cipher Families for the 1939 D'Agapeyeff Challenge: Key-Free Counts and Searches with Demonstrated Power

    Which classical cipher families the 1939 D’Agapeyeff challenge excludes, by key-free counts and by searches with demonstrated power. No reading is claimed.

    PDFDOICode and checks

Research notesORCID

3Other projects

Smaller things, some finished, some not.

4About

Hendrick Research is the independent practice of Chase Hendrick. The software is written with AI-assisted programming. Chase sets the questions and the methods and checks the results before anything goes out. Each release says what was tested and what was not.

Corrections are welcome. The quickest route is an issue on GitHub.

Latest releases