a very very large mass can warp space and time, right? is that because of the relatively strong gravitational pull it exerts?
can a vacuum be considered space? after all, coordinates are made according to some "fixed point".
2007-01-30 05:29:25 · 4 answers · asked by sh 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Yes, large masses can exert enough gravity to warp space and time.
As for space being a vacuum... that's a bit more complex. Space is essentially a vacuum, except for a few hydrogen atoms floating around in between the stars, but that's not to say that space is a complete void. I've read it described as something of a "foamy" substance which can be pulled and stretched by gravitational forces. Check out Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" for a really good explanation.
2007-01-30 05:43:34 · answer #1 · answered by Yamson 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "warping of space" is a geometrical interpretation of General Relativity. Space itself, in General Relativity, is nothing, it is an empty vacuum. It is only "space-time events", something taking place at a certain place and time, that have reality in General Relativity. General Relativity can be re-formulated without the geometric interpretation, so it is not clear what "warped vacuum" really means---it is a nice visualization of the calculations, but has no observable consequences (unlike, say, objects actually be pulled around by gravity).
The coordinate systems used in General Relativity are "arbitrary". That is, the shape of the coordinate system itself is irrelevant to all observable events; the coordinate system's arbitrary shape (and its point of origin) are removed by the effect of the metric tensor in all calculations of observable quantities.
This is one of the problems in modern physics, because in quantum field theory, the vacuum really IS something---it is filled with fields. How to warp those fields in a way that is consistent with both quantum field theory and general relativity has not been solved.
2007-01-30 15:11:42 · answer #2 · answered by cosmo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A vacuum has no mass, if it has no mass then it cannot have gravitational pull. Large parts of empty space has gravitational pull, that is because of dark matter (speculation) this dark mater has mass and that is what distorts objects. The vacuum does not enter into it.
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2007-01-30 13:43:44 · answer #3 · answered by Bacchus 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, a large mass can be modelled as warping space and time and of course a vacuum is part of space.
2007-01-30 13:41:50 · answer #4 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋