Tuesday 1 November 2022

Making Sense Of Time Relativity vs Space Relativity

Gravity is the increasing relative expansion of time intervals with proximity to a centre of mass, and the increasing relative contraction of space intervals in the direction of a centre of mass, with increasing proximity to that centre.

The relative expansion of time intervals means that a process such as the ticking of a clock, unfolds relatively more slowly. The contraction of space intervals means that the shortest trajectory (geodesic) of another body traversing the affected space will be curved in the direction of the centre of mass. But there is an important difference between time relativity and space relativity. 

In time relativity, the expansion of time intervals is relative to other time intervals: those at other spatial locations, further from the centre of mass. In space relativity, on the other hand, the contraction of space intervals (in the direction of a centre of mass) is relative to the other space dimensions (those perpendicular to the dimension of contraction).

This means that a person does not detect the expansion of time intervals, since time intervals are expanded only relative to time intervals at spatial locations not occupied by that person; whereas a person does detect the contraction of space intervals (as gravitational attraction in one direction), since space intervals are contracted relative to the other two spatial axes at which the person is located.