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Ranku
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What is the physical/geometric meaning of spacelike, timelike and null geodesics?
Ranku said:What is the physical/geometric meaning of spacelike, timelike and null geodesics?
Amanheis said:nothing can move on spacelike geodesics since that would mean moving faster than the speed of light.
Ranku said:So what then is the practical relevance of spacelike geodesics to general relativity?
Ranku said:So what then is the practical relevance of spacelike geodesics to general relativity?
Ranku said:So what then is the practical relevance of spacelike geodesics to general relativity?
The physical/geometric meaning of spacelike refers to a type of spacetime interval in which the distance between two events is greater than the time interval. This means that the events are separated by a spatial distance and cannot affect each other causally.
The physical/geometric meaning of timelike refers to a type of spacetime interval in which the time interval between two events is greater than the spatial distance. This means that the events are separated by a temporal distance and can potentially affect each other causally.
The physical/geometric meaning of null refers to a type of spacetime interval in which the distance between two events is equal to the time interval. This means that the events are separated by a light-like distance and can potentially affect each other causally, but only through the exchange of light signals.
Spacelike intervals are greater than the speed of light, timelike intervals are less than the speed of light, and null intervals are equal to the speed of light. This is because the speed of light is a universal constant that defines the maximum speed at which information and causality can propagate through spacetime.
Spacelike intervals imply that events are not causally connected and cannot affect each other. Timelike intervals imply that events can potentially affect each other causally. Null intervals imply that events can potentially affect each other causally, but only through the exchange of light signals. These distinctions are important in understanding the causal relationships between events in spacetime.