Space: Now is Time or Space relative or both? How are they interconnected?

Measuring Radial Distance in Strong Gravitational Fields

Relativity theory says: In general relativity, distance isn’t flat—especially near massive objects. Radial distance becomes a geometric concept derived from the curvature of spacetime, not just a ruler-straight path.

How do we handle space and time units in modern physics:

1. Time/Duration: We take some oscilation frequency of a specific atom. In the roton model this relates to an effective rotation speed of an entity - e.g. an electron or other parts of an atom. This means we define time based on the duration for a movement through space.
2. Space/Distance: We define distances in space based on the time something takes to travel along this distance e.g. a photon with the speed of c.

So in the end the size of an electron relates to the time a rotation takes for the electron to rotate around its axis which depends on the perimeter of the electron. This should just make us avare, that we can not tell space and time apart and defining the one with the other does not necessarily lead to a usefull view. But please, don’t ask a vegetarian to choose between the Chicken and the Egg.

What Is “Radial Distance” in GR?

In flat space: r = straight-line distance from the center

In curved spacetime (Schwarzschild geometry), the line element is:

ds² = - (1 - 2GM/rc²) · c² dt² + (1 - 2GM/rc²)^(-1) · dr² + r² dΩ²

• r is a coordinate radius, not directly measurable.
• The actual measured (proper) radial distance is:

L = ∫[r₁ to r₂] [1 - 2GM/(rc²)]^(-1/2) dr

So space is stretched near mass.

How Can We Measure It?

1. Radar Ranging (Proper Distance)

• Send a light pulse and measure the round-trip time.
• Compute:

Proper distance = (c × round-trip time) / 2

• Accounts for gravitational delay — e.g. Shapiro time delay

2. Standard Rods or Interferometry

• Use idealized rods or wave interference to measure lengths.
• In principle, you could lay rods down (impractical) or use phase shift analysis to measure curvature.

3. Tidal Acceleration Measurements

• Measure how free-falling objects accelerate differently.
• These tidal effects tell us how geodesics converge or diverge.
• Relates to the Riemann curvature tensor.

Consequences of Curvature

• Radial distance is longer than expected.
• Light takes longer to travel between two points than in flat space.
• Space is not Euclidean near massive bodies.
• GPS and astrophysics require precise curvature corrections.

Summary

And the Roton-Model ?

This gives yet another indication, that rotating systems (radial distance) have an influence on spacetime. The lack of modeling a further attraction caused by rotation forces the conventional and relativistic physics to “bend space” instead of adding an additional force.

So the Roton-Model remains valid even by postulating a uniform space. Replacing the missing links by rotonal attractions and influences on photon rotations (spin). Even though a roton (e.g. electron) might change its actual base size over time and space, there can be a uniform spacea and time - BUT we can not measure it, we can only measure potential relative diletations.