What causes the curvature of space-time?

What causes the curvature of space-time?

Gravity is the curvature of spacetime Gravity is the curvature of the universe, caused by massive bodies, which determines the path that objects travel. That curvature is dynamical, moving as those objects move. In Einstein’s view of the world, gravity is the curvature of spacetime caused by massive objects.

How do you explain curved spacetime?

In general relativity, spacetime is not ‘flat’ but is curved by the presence of massive bodies. This artistic representation visualises spacetime as a simplified, two-dimensional surface, which is being distorted by the presence of three massive bodies, represented as coloured spheres.

What is space-time simple explanation?

In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why different observers perceive differently where and when events occur.

How does curvature of spacetime cause gravity?

The curvature of spacetime (not just space) is responsible for gravity. Literally, near heavy objects, the “future direction” points slightly down. So anything that moves forward in time will find its trajectory pointing down slightly. This takes the form of downward acceleration.

Is spacetime actually curved?

It is a four-dimensional structure whose shape is determined by the presence of matter and energy. Around any mass (or energy), spacetime is curved. The presence of planets, stars and galaxies deform the fabric of spacetime like a large ball deforms a bedsheet.

Can spacetime have no curvature?

In summary, General Relativity allows spacetime to be curved in vacuum. That happens due to the fact that the gravitational field may interact with itself. On a vacuum Universe, if spacetime was ever curved, it would never be flat. If it were ever flat, it would remain flat.

Did Einstein say space is curved?

Einstein said that space is curved and that matter is the source of the curvature. (Matter is also the source of gravitation, so gravity is related to the curvature—but that will come later in the chapter.)

How do you visualize a curved spacetime?

The simple answer is: you can’t. You are an observer that only has freedom to move in 3 spatial dimensions and so it’s impossible for you to actually visualise a fourth dimension and so trying to visualise spacetime curvature on the four-manifold is impossible.

Why did Einstein concluded we live in a curved spacetime?

By considering the consequences of the equivalence principle, Einstein concluded that we live in a curved spacetime. The distribution of matter determines the curvature of spacetime; other objects (and even light) entering a region of spacetime must follow its curvature.

Is time the 4th dimension?

Physics > Space and Time According to Einstein , you need to describe where you are not only in three-dimensional space — length, width and height — but also in time. Time is the fourth dimension. So to know where you are, you have to know what time it is.

What is spacetime really made of?

Specifically, spacetime might emerge from the materials we usually think of as living in the universe—matter and energy itself. “It’s not [that] we first have space and time and then we add in some matter,” Wüthrich says. “Rather something material may be a necessary condition for there to be space and time.

What dimension are we living in?

In everyday life, we inhabit a space of three dimensions – a vast ‘cupboard’ with height, width and depth, well known for centuries. Less obviously, we can consider time as an additional, fourth dimension, as Einstein famously revealed.

Do magnets bend space-time?

By reanalyzing the basic equations of general relativity, a researcher has discovered that magnetic fields tend to flatten and stiffen the fabric of space-time. The finding might force cosmologists and astronomers to reexamine how magnetic fields have shaped the evolution of the cosmos.

Do black holes curve space?

In short, black holes are massive pits of gravity that bend space-time because of their incredibly dense centers, or singularities..

Does light bend spacetime?

Light has energy, energy is equivalent to mass, and mass exerts gravitational force. Thus, light creates gravity, i.e. the bending of space-time.

Can space/time bend upwards?

The pictures are giving you the wrong idea that you,or anybody, can visualise 4 D space-time. If by “bending space upward” you’re referring to creating gravitational repulsion, then no, there is currently no way to do that.

Is space a 4d?

Space is indeed curved — in four dimensions. Many people think the fourth dimension is simply time, and for some astronomical equations, it is. Einstein used time as a fourth dimension to describe a coordinate system called space-time.

Can spacetime be flat?

A spacetime is locally flat if and only if no geodesical deviation exists for congruences of all kinds of geodesics.

How did Einstein explain space time?

Gravity feels strongest where spacetime is most curved, and it vanishes where spacetime is flat. This is the core of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which is often summed up in words as follows: “matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move”.

Why is time different in space simple?

This form of time dilation is also real, and it’s because in Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravity can bend spacetime, and therefore time itself. The closer the clock is to the source of gravitation, the slower time passes; the farther away the clock is from gravity, the faster time will pass.