Curved spacetime

A model in which gravity is represented by the curvature of spacetime, whose geometry is influenced by matter and energy.

Einstein field equations: Equations in general relativity relating spacetime curvature to the distribution of matter and energy. They state mathematically how matter and energy shape the curvature.
Spacetime: The four-dimensional framework combining three dimensions of space with one dimension of time. Curvature applies to this unified structure, not to space alone.
Gravitational lens: A massive object whose gravity bends light from a more distant source. The bending of light directly traces curvature along its path.
Newtonian gravity: A theory that models gravity as an attractive force between masses. It treats gravity as a force, unlike the geometric account of general relativity.
Geodesic: A locally straightest path through a curved space or spacetime. Freely falling bodies follow spacetime geodesics in general relativity.
Differential geometry: The mathematical study of curved spaces using calculus and geometric structures. It provides the language used to describe spacetime geometry.
Gravitational time dilation: A difference in elapsed time between locations at different gravitational potentials. It is a measurable consequence of spacetime geometry near massive bodies.
Flat spacetime: Spacetime with zero curvature, described globally by the geometry of special relativity. It provides the non-gravitational geometric ideal contrasted with curvature.
Metric tensor: A mathematical object that defines distances, times, angles, and causal structure in a space or spacetime. It encodes the geometry from which spacetime curvature is calculated.
Special relativity: A theory of space and time for inertial observers, excluding gravity. Its flat spacetime is the limiting geometry against which curvature is understood.

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Minkowski spacetimeCompared with: It marks the geometric feature excluded by the special-relativistic model.