What effect does mass have on spacetime?

Gravitational time dilation occurs because objects with a lot of mass create a strong gravitational field. The gravitational field is really a curving of space and time. The stronger the gravity, the more spacetime curves, and the slower time itself proceeds.

Who said mass tells space how do you curve?

John Wheeler
Einstein’s general theory of relativity can be summed up in just 12 words: “Space-time tells matter how to move; matter tells space-time how to curve”. But this short description from the physicist John Wheeler hides a more complex and profound truth.

Does mass compress spacetime?

Nope. A naked singularity doesn’t do that. And a singularity behind an event horizon will have an infinite time dilation relative to infinity at the horizon, not at the singularity. So you are confusing a horizon and a singularity.

How does mass affect spacetime?

We are taught that mass warps spacetime, and the curvature of spacetime around mass explains gravity — so that an object in orbit around Earth, for example, is actually going in a straight line through curved spacetime. Ok, that makes sense, but when mass (like the Earth) moves through spacetime and bends it, why does spacetime not stay bent?

What would happen if there was no matter in space?

A mass that accelerates through a changing gravitational field will radiate energy away, and that radiated energy is a rippling through the fabric of space known as gravitational waves. Without matter or energy there any longer, there’s nothing to maintain the curvature to space.

Can something having mass displace space?

Now, if we consider Archimedes’ Principle, we would see that he based it upon the properties of liquids. But, liquids and solids have prodigious differences. Therefore, space does not act like fluids and hence, something having mass cannot displace space.

What determines the curvature of spacetime around a massive object?

The spacetime curvature around any massive object is determined by the combination of mass and distance from the center-of-mass.