English

Space and Space-Time geodesics in Schwarzschild geometry

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2018-04-03 v2

Abstract

Geodesic orbit equations in the Schwarzschild geometry of general relativity reduce to ordinary conic sections of Newtonian mechanics and gravity for material particles in the non-relativistic limit. On the contrary, geodesic orbit equations for a proper spatial submanifold of Schwarzschild metric at any given coordinate-time correspond to an unphysical gravitational repulsion in the non-relativistic limit. This demonstrates at a basic level the centrality and critical role of relativistic time and its intimate pseudo-Riemannian connection with space. Correspondingly, a commonly popularized depiction of geodesic orbits of planets as resulting from the curvature of space produced by the sun, represented as a rubber sheet dipped in the middle by the weighing of that massive body, is mistaken and misleading for the essence of relativity, even in the non-relativistic limit.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1803.08346,
  title  = {Space and Space-Time geodesics in Schwarzschild geometry},
  author = {Lorenzo Resca},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1803.08346},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

14pp

R2 v1 2026-06-23T01:01:48.406Z