Question

why does matter warp spacetime

Answer 1

This can be a very complicated subject as much of the argument lies on the frontiers of physics, but a shallow explanation might be that the presence of matter changes the path that a free-falling body sees as a straight line - in effect a warp in spacetime replaces the idea of gravitational force. Look up curved or warped spacetime on the web for a more thoughtful explanation...

Answer 2

JonnyMcA will have a better answer :-)

Answer 3

Hi Stan,

I dont know of a better answer than what you have already given. Matter has mass, and mass equates to energy, and it is mass-energy density that warps space-time. Of course this is not the full picture, and only with a working theory of quantum gravity may we be closer to answering why matter warps space-time (or appears to do so). As it stands the two theories are incompatible at small scales where quantum mechanics appears to dominate. Its an equivalent question to "why do some particles have charge?"