Spacetime

In <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">physics</a>, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a <a href="/facts/Mathematical_model/CGhyuxgz">mathematical model</a> that fuses the <a href="/facts/Three-dimensional_space/KAqKWUbS">three dimensions of space</a> and the one dimension of <a href="/facts/Time/3ShdpqLx">time</a> into a single <a href="/facts/Four-dimensional/vFQd0M7T">four-dimensional</a> <a href="/facts/Continuum_(measurement)/oz3r6kvm">continuum</a>. <a href="/facts/Spacetime_diagram/YF2SeXRL">Spacetime diagrams</a> are useful in visualizing and understanding <a href="/facts/Special_relativity/vsFFc63E">relativistic</a> effects, such as how different observers perceive where and when events occur.
Until the turn of the 20th century, the assumption had been that the three-dimensional geometry of the universe (its description in terms of locations, shapes, distances, and directions) was distinct from time (the measurement of when events occur within the universe). However, <a href="/facts/Space/tq6LUM3C">space</a> and time took on new meanings with the <a href="/facts/Lorentz_transformation/jotJL06G">Lorentz transformation</a> and <a href="/facts/Special_relativity/vsFFc63E">special theory of relativity</a>.
In 1908, <a href="/facts/Hermann_Minkowski/tlKrpw69">Hermann Minkowski</a> presented a geometric interpretation of <a href="/facts/Special_relativity/vsFFc63E">special relativity</a> that fused time and the three spatial dimensions into a single four-dimensional continuum now known as <a href="/facts/Minkowski_space/vDkfkQJn">Minkowski space</a>. This interpretation proved vital to the <a href="/facts/General_relativity/jVsoIg8X">general theory of relativity</a>, wherein spacetime is curved by <a href="/facts/Stress%25E2%2580%2593energy_tensor/wWKrzjfI">mass and energy</a>.
There is also a theory that time travel is done using space-time.

Spacetime open-in-new

Spacetime