Tuesday, January 17, 2012

General relativity??? what are your vies physicists?

You're extending the ball resting on an elastic sheet ogy too far. Space-time is said to be "curved" because geodesics within it (defined as the path a light ray would take) have mathematical characteristics similar to those of more familiar curved surfaces of lower dimensionality within Euclidean space. The ogies are simply that .. ogies. They help illustrate certain features, but not all. Space is not made of rubber or any other fabric, for example. And, it does not curve "into" anything external to it. It is pointless, therefore, to attempt to visualize such a place. Understanding GR comes with an understanding of the *mathematics* underlying it, not a visualization of the "nothingness" you seek.

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