Is Spacetime a Field in General Relativity?

[brianhurren]

Could spacetime itself be a field?

 

[dextercioby]

No, according to the current understanding acquired since the beginning of the 20th physics, spacetime is a mathematical model/environment where all physics takes place, in particular where particles and field 'live'.

 

[O10infinity]

Yes, in General Relativity, spacetime is a field described by a metric tensor.

 

[Dale]

I think that in GR I would associate spacetime with the whole Riemannian manifold, not just the metric.

 

[Ryan McCarty]

No, it is a quality of the gravitational field but is not a field in it's own sense.

 

[Fredrik]

Yes, in General Relativity, spacetime is a field described by a metric tensor.

Spacetime is not a field. A spacetime is a pair (M,g) where M is a smooth manifold and g (the metric) is a tensor field on M. It's considered OK to refer to M as "spacetime", even though it would be more accurate to call it something like "spacetime's underlying manifold". If we use this terminology, we can say that the metric is a field on spacetime.