What is space time fabric?
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Space time fabric is a misleading and confusing term used by science popularisers when presenting Einstein’s relativity to the general populace. It is really a term that shouldn’t be used due to the confusion it causes. Spacetime is not a fabric, and that should be obvious given the meaning of the word fabric.
What the science popularisers are trying to get across to you though is that space and time are part of one thing: spacetime, or in other words you need to consider time and space together. You can’t have time without space, and you can’t have space without time, they are dependent on each other.
Einstein showed us with his theory of relativity (both the special theory and the general theory) that time and space are even more closely linked than you might think. The special theory of relativity starts of with the postulate that the speed of light is constant and the same for all observers. The only way for this to be possible given relative motion is if time and space are relative, which is what the special theory of relativity tells us. A good way to understand the relation between time and space is through spacetime diagrams, which are covered in this excellent short introduction to special relativity:
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