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jobyts
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What exactly is bending of space? Does space bend from position x to position y? If so, what do we call whatever is there in position x (after the bend)? And what was there at position y, before the bend?
jobyts said:What exactly is bending of space? Does space bend from position x to position y? If so, what do we call whatever is there in position x (after the bend)? And what was there at position y, before the bend?
tiny-tim said:Hi jobyts!
Three-dimensional space isn't part of a four-dimensional space.
It doesn't "bend" in or through a fourth dimension … it only changes its own geometry (curvature).
jobyts said:If I understand you, in a 3D world, it looks like bending, but what actually happening is a change in geometry in the 4-D space. Please correct if I'm wrong.
jobyts said:What exactly is bending of space? Does space bend from position x to position y? If so, what do we call whatever is there in position x (after the bend)? And what was there at position y, before the bend?
A.T. said:"Bending" is the wrong word, as it usually refers to extrinsic curvature. Intrinsic curvature is a distortion of distances: Imagine you fix one end of a string with the length R at a point in 2d-space, and make a full circle with the other end. If you then find that the circumference of that circle is different from 2*PI*R, you conclude that the 2d-space is curved intrinsically. So you don't need extra dimensions to quantify that curvature. You can extend this example to curved 3d-space containing a sphere with the radius R and a surface area different from 4*PI*R^2.
You can also embed a intrinsically curved manifold into a flat higher dimensional manifold to visualize the distorted distances:
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/demoweb..._and_general_relativity/curved_spacetime.html
Teeril said:Think I'm missing something here, would that not still be only possible if the 2d space was "bend" in the 3rd dimension. Otherwise, how can the space "know" it's curved/distorted?
The Bending of Space, also known as spacetime curvature, is a concept in physics that describes how the presence of massive objects can curve the fabric of space and time.
Space bends due to the presence of mass and energy, as described by Einstein's theory of general relativity. Mass and energy create a curvature in spacetime, causing objects to follow curved paths.
Bending of space can be observed in various phenomena, such as the bending of light around massive objects like stars, the gravitational lensing effect, and the orbit of planets around the sun.
Space bending occurs whenever there is a presence of mass and energy. This can happen on a small scale, such as with particles, or on a larger scale, such as with planets and stars.
The Bending of Space has significant effects on our understanding of the universe and how it works. It allows us to explain and predict various phenomena, such as gravity, the behavior of celestial bodies, and the expansion of the universe.