Question about Curvature caused by Mass

[Deepak K Kapur]

A body is moving in deep space substantially away from others influences of gravitational force ( just assume).

Suddenly, a big planet appears in It's vicinity. As per relativity it's not some force issuing forth from the planet that attracts the body towards itself. The body just keeps on moving as before, only the space is curved this time.So, it starts to move towards the planet. OK till now, I suppose.

My question is, 'why does the body accelerate/increase its speed.Why doesn't it keep moving at the same speed as before?

Or, do the people on the planet only SEE it to be accelerating towards the planet, as it is moving closer to the planet with time? Is the speed of the body same as before?

I hope there is nothing objectionable with this post

 

[Dale]

Suddenly, a big planet appears in It's vicinity.

This part of the question violates the conservation of energy in a way that is incompatible with relativity. So the answer below will ignore that part.

why does the body accelerate/increase its speed.Why doesn't it keep moving at the same speed as before?

Remember that it is following a geodesic in spacetime, not just space. So a path that was originally parallel to the time axis can curve so that it is at an angle to the time axis. This is acceleration/increased speed.

 

[rootone]

Mass cannot just appear magically like that though.

 

[Deepak K Kapur]

This part of the question violates the conservation of energy in a way that is incompatible with relativity. So the answer below will ignore that part.

Remember that it is following a geodesic in spacetime, not just space. So a path that was originally parallel to the time axis can curve so that it is at an angle to the time axis. This is acceleration/increased speed.

I have kinda got the idea...

Can you please elaborate more and that too in layman terms.

 

[Deepak K Kapur]

Mass cannot just appear magically like that though.

I think quantum mechanics allows this, even if the probability is miniscule...

 

[Dale]

I have kinda got the idea...

Can you please elaborate more and that too in layman terms.

Are you familiar with spacetime diagrams? If so, how would you draw an object at rest, an object moving slowly, and an object moving fast?

 

[Dale]

I think quantum mechanics allows this, even if the probability is miniscule...

No it doesn't. Energy is conserved in QM. In any case, the question is about GR where this sort of thing is explicitly forbidden.

 

[Deepak K Kapur]

Are you familiar with spacetime diagrams? If so, how would you draw an object at rest, an object moving slowly, and an object moving fast?

Laymen are most certainly well versed in spacetime diagrams...

 

[Dale]

So, how would you draw an object at rest, an object moving slowly, and an object moving fast?