Editing Spacetime (section)

{{short description|Mathematical model combining space and time}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|Space and time|Time and space|other uses|Space and Time (disambiguation)|and|Timespace (disambiguation)|and|Spacetime (disambiguation)}}
{{Spacetime|cTopic=Types}}

In [[physics]], '''spacetime''', also called the '''space-time continuum''', is a [[mathematical model]] that fuses the [[three-dimensional space|three dimensions of space]] and the one dimension of [[time]] into a single [[four-dimensional]] [[continuum (measurement)|continuum]]. [[Spacetime diagram]]s are useful in visualizing and understanding [[Special relativity|relativistic]] 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, [[space]] and time took on new meanings with the [[Lorentz transformation]] and [[Special relativity|special theory of relativity]].

In 1908, [[Hermann Minkowski]] presented a geometric interpretation of [[special relativity]] that fused time and the three spatial dimensions into a single four-dimensional continuum now known as [[Minkowski space]]. This interpretation proved vital to the [[General relativity|general theory of relativity]], wherein spacetime is curved by [[Stress–energy tensor|mass and energy]].

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