Spacetime curvature Definition and 91 Threads

As our space rock hurtles through the infinite void. Acting under the assumption that the fabric of spacetime is a 4 dimensional space if one were to travel to a point on that fabric for a value of time that our 3 dimensional planet has already been to given that we're traveling "through" time...

As required I start this thread on the meaning of "expanding universe" in the context of GR. FRW standard models have a special timelike congruence named "comoving" congruence. One can pick an adapted global chart in which the comoving congruence's worldlines are "at rest". Such a chart defines...

The question might be a bit weird: which are the current "speculations" about the topology of the Universe as spacetime ? I'm aware of, from the point of view of spacelike hypersurfaces of constant cosmological time, the topology of such "spaces" might be nearly flat on large scale. What about...

Reading this old thread does-special-and-general-relativity-affect-aging-of-apollo-astronauts I came with some question. To me isn't clear how SR-time dilation by rotation of the Earth is compensated by GR-time dilation effect.

Hi, I asked a similar question in Differential Geometry subforum. The question is related to the symmetries of spacetime. Namely take a spacetime with a timelike Killing vector field (KVF). By definition it is stationary. Now consider a curve ##\alpha## and translate it along the KVF by a...

I have read widely about spacetime but not deeply. I am not good with high mathematics. I am aware of and comfortable with the concept: “matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move.” But not much deeper. This is a thought experiment. Is there an equation...

Hi, we had a thread some time ago about GPS satellite system. One starts considering the ECI coordinate system in which the Earth's center is at rest with axes pointing towards fixed stars. One may assume it is an inertial frame in which the Earth's surface undergoes circular motion. Clocks on...

Hi, I was keep reading the interesting book Exploring Black Holes - second edition from Taylor, Wheeler, Bertschinger. I'd like to better understand some points they made. In Box 3 section 3-6 an example of coordinate singularity at point O in Euclidean plane in polar coordinates centered there...

Hi, I'd like to discuss in this thread the propagation of Gravitational Waves (GW) in the context of GR. Just to fix ideas, let's consider a FW spacetime. It is not stationary (even less static), however the timelike congruence of "comoving observers" is hypersurface orthogonal. Suppose at a...

Hi, I was thinking about the claim that for instance Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) black hole is a at 26996±29 light years from the Earth from a GR point of view. Assuming a FLRW model for the Universe, maybe the above meaning is that at a given cosmological time ##t## (the "present" time) the proper...

Hi, very basic question. Take an object like a rock or the Earth itself. If we consider their internal constituents, there will be electromagnetic forces acting between them (Newton's 3th law pairs). From a global perspective if the rock is free from external non-gravitational forces, then it...

Quotes from Cosmic magnetism, curvature and the expansion dynamics: "Most interestingly, the coupling between magnetism and geometry implies that even weak fields have a significant impact if the curvature contribution is strong." "The energy scales involved vary from ∼ 100 MeV at the QCD...

I'll set out by saying that I have no real formal training in physics or maths. However, I have been keen to try to understand what exactly convinced Einstein that spacetime must be curved. As I understand it, the bending of star light was already explained by Newtonian physics, although of...

Based on the current understanding of general relativity, it is possible that curving spacetime in the back of a spacecraft would allow for faster-than-light travel. In general relativity, the curvature of spacetime is determined by the universe's distribution of matter and energy. If a...

After trying to kinda get a picture of the field of play in quantum physics according to the standard model, a question came up. I tried to formulate the known bosons each as a particle transferring some property. 1. Photons transfer electric charge: the electromagnetic force gives attraction...

I understand the mechanism of defining the curvature of a 2D manifold via triangle. But I don't understand how this works in 3D. Meanwhile, Lawrence Krauss mentioned in his book A Universe from Nothing it does. How does this work in 3D?

Hi, I was reading this insight schwarzschild-geometry-part-1 about the transformation employed to rescale the Schwarzschild coordinate time ##t## to reflect the proper time ##T## of radially infalling objects (Gullstrand-Painleve coordinate time ##T##). As far as I understand it, the vector...

Hi, reading the Landau book 'The Classical theory of Field - vol 2' a doubt arised to me about the definition of synchronous reference system (a.k.a. synchronous coordinate chart). Consider a generic spacetime endowed with a metric ##g_{ab}## and take the (unique) covariant derivative operator...

Hello, Some doubt arose me reading this thread https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/is-acceleration-absolute-or-relative-revisited.999420/post-6454462 currently closed. Sorry, I have not be able to quote directly from it :frown: Your claim is not , however, asserting that the spacetime...

Hello, I'm aware of the following topic has already been discussed here on PF, nevertheless I would like to go deep into the concept of "finite spacelike interval" in the context of SR and GR. All us know the physical meaning of timelike paths: basically they are paths followed through...

I enjoy explaining spacetime curvature to people with a rank-beginner understanding of GR. But someone asked about that favorite concept in pop-sci, spaghettification. I'm having a hard time with it. If you fell into a black hole, there's no reference frame within which you could describe...

HI, I'm curios about the analytic derivation of Mercury perihelion precession starting from EFE - Einstein Field Equation (or simply just from Schwarzschild solution of the EFE). Can you advise me about some source or online material to learn it ? Thanks.

Hi, in general relativity I'm aware of the spacetime 'distance' between two timelike related events is maximized by the free falling timelike path (zero proper acceleration) joining them. Consider now a couple of events belonging to a spacelike hypersurface (AFAIK it is an hypersurface with...

Hi, starting from this very interesting thread I'm still a bit confused about the conclusions. The main point, as far as I can understand, is all about conditions for a quadrilateral to be considered a parallelogram. My first basic doubt is: the concept of 'parallel' applies just to geodesic...

The presence of the cosmological constant produces a flat spacetime universe with Ω = 1. There is also the curvature index of space k, which can be +1, 0, -1. But it is possible to have any of these values of k with Λ > 0 or Λ < 0. How is the curvature of spacetime determined by Λ different from...

Though it is hard not to believe in the spacetime curvature that cause planets to follow curved path arround massive objects, I wander how come these paths are eliptical, the object change velocity when moving arround the massive object and what is more obeys the Keppler laws. If there is not...

In reviewing one of Einstein's thought experiments, the accelerating elevator in space, and the resulting bending of light passing through the elevator, Einstein's predicted that light will bend in gravity. Now Einstein's original prediction was off by a factor of 2 because he hadn't yet...

Hi, There is a point that, in my opinion, is not quite emphasized in the context of general relativity. It is the notion of spacetime coordinate systems that from the very foundation of general relativity are assumed to be all on the same footing. Nevertheless I believe each of them has to be...

Let's say you can bend a paper...how about bending it upward. a slope I'm saying as we saw spactime in 3d...we all know how it looks..the lines are attracted toward Earth but why doesn't it deflects them and maybe negative mass is linked with it. In other words, someone under the trampoline...

Regarding curvature of spacetime/space: At some given point in a gravitational field, spacetime is curved at that point and this is a constant. (I'm assuming this is true). Although we can talk about the curvature of spacetime, I never hear anyone talking about the curvature of space. Can...

I know this is probably going to sound stupid but I'm really curious for the opinion of someone who has knowledge. Well spacetime is like a stretched bed linen. Putting on an object with a big mass, will cause its curvature. Now imagine having a piece of fabric holding it stretced from both...

In the Feynman Lectures on Physics, Feynman explains the curvature of spacetime by drawing a rectangle in spacetime, see http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/II_42.html Fig. 42.18 First waiting 100 sec and then moving 100 feet in height on Earth's surface results in a different situation...

Hello Maybe my question is dumb but is the bent of space time instant due to gravity? If a mass pops into existence will space time be bent instantly ? Intercations between forces are light speed but gravity is and is not a force depending on pov

Does the amount by which an object changes the spacetime curvature depend on relativistic mass or the rest mass? Through this question I just want to answer whether momentum equals [relativistic mass * velocity] or is it [rest mass * gamma * velocity]. Both the formulas might be the same but I...

Can someone please explain to me why time drastically slows for anyone near an extremely curves spacetime. I see it as the flow of time almost becomes slowed due to extreme curvature, what can explain this? What do physicists "see" time as? Also, I'm not entirely educated on this topic but I...

This is probably a bad question, but can it be transformed away? Say Alice is on Earth and Bob is far away in outer space. Bob would think that Alice's clock is running slow. Alice would think Bob's clock is running fast. A third observer, say Carl, anywhere in spacetime would have to observe...

In a recent thread, the question came up of whether the presence of gravitational time dilation implies spacetime curvature. My answer in that thread was no: This was based on the obvious counterexample of observers at rest in Rindler coordinates in flat Minkowski spacetime; two observers at...

Based on classical physics all things attract one another due to their own gravity pull, so theoretically the Earth is drawn closer to a tennis ball even if its impossible to detect. Knowing this and Einsteins theory of relativity of spacetime could I not assume then that every physical body...

I received a reply about the value of space time curvature. Evidently it is not zero but an almost unconceiveably small number. I was just wandering how this number was gotten.

I hope I am posting this in the correct forum, I am trying to better understand space-time singularities. I can find easily the basic, and advanced information on what it is and the different theories. My main question is how do scientists study these space-time singularities? Thank you for...

We know that Schwarzschild metric describes an asymptotically flat spacetime. This means that far away from the event horizon we can safely interpret the ##r## coordinate as distance from the center. But when close enough to the event horizon the curvature becomes significant and our common...

Hello I just got interested into quasars and I have a question:What metric do you use for quasars?

Hello I am concered about way of solving geodesic equation. Is there a general solution to geodesic equation? How to calculate the Cristoffel symbol at the right side of the equation? Thanks for helping me out!

What is the velocity of the photon through the fourth dimension x4? Photons are real, physical entities. The fourth dimension is a real, physical entity. Therefore, photons must have a relationship with the fourth dimension. They must have some velocity relative to it. What is the velocity...

Since a black hole goes to a singularity, theoretically wouldn't added mass to that point decrease the spacetime curvature by increasing of the circumference, and then not have a loss in information.

Homework Statement Say we have two manifolds N(dim d) and M(dim d-1). Let Φ: M →N be a diffeomorphism where Σ = Φ[M] is hypersurface in N. Let n be unit normal field (say timelike) on Σ and ⊥ projector (in N) defined by: ⊥^a_b = \delta^a_b + n^a n_b Where acting on (s, 0) tensor projection...

A singularity is a region in which the curvature of space-time becomes infinite. But according to standard big bang models, at the initial point (at which T = 0) the pre-expansion space - as miniscule as it was - was filled uniformly with all energy that ever existed or will exist. But if all...

I have some questions related to this video: In the Einstein view of gravity, time is warped. Is this warped time same as the gravitational time dilation? In other words, is the curved time axis due to different clock speeds at different height in a gravitational field? Further, can the tidal...

Suppose we are in a Minkowskian space, away from all the source of gravity, and observe an accelerated frame from this frame. Acoording to Equivalence principle, we can consider the accelerated frame to be at rest and assume we have gravity in the accelerated frame. Thus, observer in the...

According to equivalence principle, gravity can be treated like acceleration "locally". Based on this principle we can treat a non-inertial frame at rest and explain the fictitious forces (of Newton's Laws) as gravity. From this we can prove that time elapses at different rates at different...