Curved space often refers to a spatial geometry which is not “flat” where a flat space is described by Euclidean geometry. Curved spaces can generally be described by Riemannian geometry though some simple cases can be described in other ways. Curved spaces play an essential role in General Relativity where gravity is often visualized as curved space. The Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker metric is a curved metric which forms the current foundation for the description of the expansion of space and shape of the universe.
Read more about Curved Space: Simple Two-dimensional Example, Embedding, Without Embedding, Open, Flat, Closed
Famous quotes containing the words curved and/or space:
“They are not flat surfaces
Having curved outlines.
They are round
Tapering toward the top.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Not so many years ago there there was no simpler or more intelligible notion than that of going on a journey. Travel—movement through space—provided the universal metaphor for change.... One of the subtle confusions—perhaps one of the secret terrors—of modern life is that we have lost this refuge. No longer do we move through space as we once did.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)