Adventures in curved spacetime.

• Autores: Eduardo Guéron
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 301, Nº. 2, 2009, págs. 38-45
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses physicist Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity which posits that gravity arises from the curvature of spacetime. The author uses the example of the space engineer Mr. Everard, who accidentally discovers curvature while repairing an antenna on the outside of his spaceship, to illustrate Einstein’s theory. Topics include the ability of a body in a curved space to move through a vacuum without pushing off of anything and the ability of a body to simulate a gliding motion and slow its fall in a vacuum. An in-depth examination of what it means for spacetime to be curved, various consequences of it, including the creation of gravity, and how curvature allows mass to move in unusual motions is presented. INSETS: CURVED SPACETIME;WHY CURVATURE ALLOWS UNUSUAL MOTION;A SWIMMER IN CURVED SPACETIME;PADDLING ACROSS A SPHERE