- #1
Buckethead
Gold Member
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Regarding curvature of spacetime/space: At some given point in a gravitational field, spacetime is curved at that point and this is a constant. (I'm assuming this is true).
Although we can talk about the curvature of spacetime, I never hear anyone talking about the curvature of space. Can curvature of space (not spacetime) be talked about if one takes into account the velocity of an inertial object. My line of thinking is this: An inertial object passing by a large mass will trace a curve as seen by an observer at some prime vantage point, but will be tracing a different curve than another object passing at the same distance but with a different velocity. Both are inertial and therefore are both following the same path through spacetime, but tracing different paths through space. It seems to me that the curvature of spacetime is simply a more compact way of expressing the combination of space and velocity. Is this true? In other words, can the curvature of spacetime be calculated from the trajectory of an inertial object and its velocity?
Although we can talk about the curvature of spacetime, I never hear anyone talking about the curvature of space. Can curvature of space (not spacetime) be talked about if one takes into account the velocity of an inertial object. My line of thinking is this: An inertial object passing by a large mass will trace a curve as seen by an observer at some prime vantage point, but will be tracing a different curve than another object passing at the same distance but with a different velocity. Both are inertial and therefore are both following the same path through spacetime, but tracing different paths through space. It seems to me that the curvature of spacetime is simply a more compact way of expressing the combination of space and velocity. Is this true? In other words, can the curvature of spacetime be calculated from the trajectory of an inertial object and its velocity?