![3 dimensional curved space 3 dimensional curved space](http://www.3-dimensional.space/shaders/Euclidean/3Torus/cover.png)
What's happening is simply that the distance between any two points in the Universe is changing according to a particular set of rules in the context of General Relativity. We also talk about the expanding Universe in the context that 'the fabric of space is stretching,' even though there is no fabric and it isn't really stretching, or for that matter, changing in any way. The 'fabric of space' analogy is just an analogy, and isn't physically meaningful. distorted by the presence of an intervening mass, such as a foreground galaxy cluster. The fact that matter and radiation respond to that curvature in the exact ways that the equations predict validates this theory, but it doesn't mean that space is actually a fabric.Īn illustration of gravitational lensing showcases how background galaxies - or any light path - is. This is only a mathematical structure that we can write down equations to describe: the equations of Einstein's General Relativity.
![3 dimensional curved space 3 dimensional curved space](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2016/13-newmethodfor.jpg)
When it comes to the notion of spacetime curvature, this is what General Relativity refers to.īut under no circumstances should you conceive of space as though it's a material, physical thing it isn't. Space in our Universe is three dimensional, and when you combine it with time, you get a four dimensional quantity. You can talk about space as a fabric, but if you do, be aware that what you're doing is implicitly reducing your perspective down to a two-dimensional analogy. qualitatively, it isn't merely a sheet of fabric but all of space itself gets curved by the presence and properties of the matter and energy within the Universe. An animated look at how spacetime responds as a mass moves through it helps showcase exactly how.