All Questions
Tagged with spacetime general-relativity
1,867
questions
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Confusion about timelike spatial coordinates
I'm pretty new to general relativity, and I'm self-studying it using Sean M. Carroll's text on the subject. In Section 2.7, he introduces the notion of closed timelike curves. He gives the example of ...
- 160
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3
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239
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How did Einstein figure out mass (and hence energy) bends spacetime?
I can understand that once I fix the velocity of light at $c$, there is a relative variation in space-time based on special relativity (inertial frame of reference). It's not clear to me how Einstein ...
- 131
2
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1
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161
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When you are in a gravitational field, do object far away get physically closer to you as you get closer to the mass?
An observer A is close to a black hole and an observer B one light year away. They are both remaining at constant radial distance from the black hole. A is at 2 Rs away from the center of the black ...
- 171
3
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1
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55
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Time component of four-velocity
While reading through Spacetime and Geometry by Sean Carroll, I came across the following passage:
"Don't get tricked into thinking that the timelike component of the four velocity of a particle ...
- 442
3
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1
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79
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How to Understand Negative Energy in the Ergoregion?
I am trying to understand the Penrose process and having trouble explaining negative energy in the ergoregion.
How I interpret it is:
Energy is the dot product between the four momentum of the object ...
- 63
2
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2
answers
917
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Theoretically, can perfectly flat space exist in the universe?
According to general relativity, mass and energy cause the curvature of space. To have perfectly flat space, there must be a completely empty vacuum state with no mass or energy.
Theoretically, is it ...
- 305
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2
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109
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How do we account for the 'one way' drag of moving space?
As I understand it, the rotating space outside a Kerr black hole drags radially falling particles into circular motion. Similarly the river model posits that the inward flow of space ensures particles ...
- 6,217
2
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2
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96
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Are $i^\pm$ and $i^0$ codimension 1 surfaces?
Standard textbooks like Carroll's say that spatial and temporal infinities in Minkowski space Penrose diagram are points. But on the footnote in pg. 3 of some draft notes on Celestial holography by ...
- 785
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57
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Time function as a function of energy (from velocity and gravity)?
Is there any formula, preferably in terms of energy, for the time dilation an object experiences taking both relativistic velocity and mass into account? I see both formulas frequently, but haven't ...
0
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1
answer
83
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What objects are solutions to the Einstein Field Equations?
The usual way the solutions of the Einstien Field Equations are introduced is by saying they are (pseudo-) riemannian metrics that satiafy the diff equations for a given EM Tensor. My question is: ...
2
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1
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68
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Understanding Wormholes Geometrically
Is the folding sheet analogy really that good for understanding what a wormhole is? After all, space-time curvature doesn't require any ambient space (it's intrinsic), as such a picture would suggest. ...
- 323
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2
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What is $r$ in a metric signature in general relativity? If $v$ and $p$ are the time and spatial coordinates?
The Wikipedia article on metric signatures says that the signature of a metric can be written $(v,p,r)$, where $v$ is the number of positive eigenvalues, $p$ is the number of negative eigenvalues, and ...
- 4,509
26
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10
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How do black holes move if they are just regions in spacetime?
If black holes are just regions of spacetime, how can black holes even move? When matter moves through spacetime, it bends the spacetime around it, but if black holes are just regions of spacetime, ...
- 403
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0
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How can you use gravity while trying to model gravity? [duplicate]
So consider the usual pop-science spacetime model, a bowling ball on a trampoline. Apparently, the ball should sink into the trampoline, causing a dip in the fabric which causes nearby objects to fall ...
- 141
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5
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Vacuum solutions in presence of mass?
Here is the page I will be referencing: Vacuum solution (general relativity) - Wikipedia
My point is: if $T_{\mu\nu}=0$ implies that there is no mass, how can Schwarzschild vacuum be a solution, if ...
- 145