spacetime
Sign in to saveIn physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing and understanding relativistic effects, such as how different observers perceive where and when events occur.
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Spacetime is a mathematical model in physics that combines the three dimensions of space (length, width, height) and time into a single four-dimensional framework. It's useful because it helps physicists visualize and understand how different observers can perceive the location and timing of events differently, particularly when dealing with objects moving at very high speeds.
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Article
45 sectionsContents
- Fundamentals
- Definitions
- History
- Spacetime in special relativity {{anchor|In special relativity}}
- Spacetime interval
- Reference frames
- Light cone
- Relativity of simultaneity
- Invariant hyperbola
- Time dilation and length contraction
- Mutual time dilation and the twin paradox
- Mutual time dilation
- Twin paradox
- Gravitation
- Basic mathematics of spacetime {{anchor|Mathematics}}
- Galilean transformations
- Relativistic composition of velocities
- Time dilation and length contraction revisited
- Lorentz transformations
- Deriving the Lorentz transformations
- Linearity of the Lorentz transformations
- Doppler effect
- Longitudinal Doppler effect
- Transverse Doppler effect
- Energy and momentum
- Extending momentum to four dimensions
- Momentum of light
- Mass–energy relationship
- Four-momentum
- Conservation laws
- Total momentum
- Choice of reference frames
- Energy and momentum conservation
- Introduction to curved spacetime
- Technical topics
- Is spacetime really curved?
- Asymptotic symmetries
- Riemannian geometry
- Curved manifolds
- Privileged character of 3+1 spacetime
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing and understanding relativistic effects, such as how different observers perceive where and when events occur.
Until the turn of the 20th century, the assumption had been that the three-dimensional geometry of the universe (its description in terms of locations, shapes, distances, and directions) was distinct from time (the measurement of when events occur within the universe). However, space and time took on new meanings with the Lorentz transformation and special theory of relativity.