In mathematics and physics, a de Sitter space is the analog in Minkowski space, or spacetime, of a sphere in ordinary, Euclidean space. The n-dimensional de Sitter space, denoted, is the Lorentzian manifold analog of an n-sphere (with its canonical Riemannian metric); it is maximally symmetric, has constant positive curvature, and is simply-connected for n at least 3.
In the language of general relativity, de Sitter space is the maximally symmetric, vacuum solution of Einstein's field equations with a positive (repulsive) cosmological constant (corresponding to a positive vacuum energy density and negative pressure). When n = 4 (3 space dimensions plus time), it is a cosmological model for the physical universe; see de Sitter universe.
De Sitter space was discovered by Willem de Sitter, and, at the same time, independently by Tullio Levi-Civita.
More recently it has been considered as the setting for special relativity rather than using Minkowski space. This formulation is called de Sitter relativity.
Read more about De Sitter Space: Definition, Properties, Static Coordinates, Flat Slicing, Open Slicing, Closed Slicing, DS Slicing
Famous quotes containing the word space:
“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)