- #36
PeterDonis
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Chris Miller said:Isn't that the same as saying, "there are distances over which you cannot at all approximate spacetime as flat"?
Sorry, I misread your earlier post. Yes, your statement here is correct.
Chris Miller said:Isn't the universe considered to be infinite
Spatially infinite, according to our best current model, yes.
Chris Miller said:so any finite distance would be infinitesimal in cosmological terms?
No. To approximate spacetime as flat, you must limit your analysis to a small enough patch of spacetime that the effects of spacetime curvature (not space curvature) are not observable. For the universe, "spacetime curvature" means the expansion of the universe, so to approximate the spacetime of the universe as flat, you must limit your analysis to a small enough patch of that spacetime that any effects associated with the expansion of the universe are not observable. But that assumes you are only looking at large scale effects to begin with. See below.
Chris Miller said:How far, in your understanding, in light-years would the distance over which you meaningfully can be?
It depends on what you are modeling. If you are modeling the orbits of satellites around the Earth, a patch of spacetime large enough to include the Earth cannot be approximated as flat. If you are modeling the orbits of planets in the solar system, a patch of spacetime large enough to include the solar system cannot be approximated as flat; but a patch that just covers the Earth (for a short enough period of time--remember we are talking about a patch of spacetime, not just space) might be if you ignore all effects of the Earth's gravity and just approximate the Earth as a point particle. And so on up the scale.