If I float motionless in outer space, I will measure spacetime to be approximately flat. By the equivalence principle, I will get flat spacetime if I am free falling near earth. Is this right? otherwise I can distinguish between the two scenarios. <br> Let say I declare myself (while free falling) to be at rest in an inertial frame of reference under GR. I see the earth accelerating towards me. What causes that acceleration? It's not the curvature of spacetime, right?

Holzkeulecz

Holzkeulecz

Answered question

2022-08-09

If I float motionless in outer space, I will measure spacetime to be approximately flat. By the equivalence principle, I will get flat spacetime if I am free falling near earth. Is this right? otherwise I can distinguish between the two scenarios.
Let say I declare myself (while free falling) to be at rest in an inertial frame of reference under GR. I see the earth accelerating towards me. What causes that acceleration? It's not the curvature of spacetime, right?

Answer & Explanation

Jaxson White

Jaxson White

Beginner2022-08-10Added 15 answers

"If I float motionless in outer space, I will measure spacetime to be approximately flat. By equivalence principle, I will get flat spacetime if I am free falling near earth. Is this right? otherwise I can distinguish between the two scenarios." - Notice that the curvature of spacetime is a tensor, so it is a covariant quantity. In particular, if it is zero in one frame then it is zero in all frames and if it is nonzero in one frame then it is nonzero in all frames.
However, in order to measure spacetime curvature requires a sufficiently large region of spacetime. The equivalence principle only applies if you use a region of spacetime which is too small to measure any curvature. That caveat is very important for understanding the equivalence principle, it only applies locally where “locally” means over a small enough region of spacetime that the spacetime curvature cannot be detected.
"Let say I declare myself an inertial frame of reference under GR. I see the earth accelerating towards me. What causes that acceleration? It's not the curvature of spacetime, right? I just measured it to be flat." - The floor accelerates because the ground pushes up on it. There is no gravitational force in this frame so there is no downward force to counteract the upward force. Therefore the floor accelerates.
Similarly, the ground immediately under the floor has two forces on it: a downward force from the floor and an upward force from the earth immediately under the ground. The upward force is larger than the downward force, so it accelerates upward.
This continues with the next layer of earth and the next, and eventually you get far enough away that the curvature becomes detectable over the region and the equivalence principle no longer applies.

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