Comment on Do straight lines and flat planes exist in nature?
gedaliyah@lemmy.world 7 months ago
No, they are mathematical constructs. Everything in nature is composed of matter and the like, so there are no perfectly straight lines or flat planes.
Even a beam of light curves and refracts as it interacts with matter and space over a long enough distance.
vrek@programming.dev 7 months ago
Unless the light is in a vacuum like space
ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
Gravitational lensing would like a work
zarcher@lemmy.world 7 months ago
My understanding is that in a true vacuum light will not be reflected or bent by particles. However, due to gravity bending space time itself, light will follow the curvature of space. It would depend on the observer if the path if light is straight. If you look at the light passing by, it would not be straight under influence of gravity. If light itself is the observer, it will travel in a straight line :)
In the case of gravitational lensing the observer is looking at light coming in. An outside perspective.