What I never understood is why the electric field doesn’t distort spacetime more than gravity. The force between 2 electrons is like 4*10^42 times stronger than gravity. So a tiny electric field should cause the same spacetime bending as a massive object.
True. The em field is significantly more energetic, meaning that it contributes more to the stress energy tensor than the force of gravity
But recall that the force of gravity is the momentum change “due to” the curvature of spacetime. The fact that the force of gravity can bend spacetime at all is a really weird second-order perturbative effect.
These perturbative effects are typically described with a quantum field theory, but gravity has been thus far notably difficult to quantize.
What I never understood is why the electric field doesn’t distort spacetime more than gravity. The force between 2 electrons is like 4*10^42 times stronger than gravity. So a tiny electric field should cause the same spacetime bending as a massive object.
It does. The energy density of the em field will contribute to the stress-energy tensor that changes the metric of spacetime.
Though the force itself is irrelevant
But force is a measure of the rate at which energy is transferred over a distance.
So if one force is greater than another and the distance is the same, then the energy is greater in the case of the greater force.
True. The em field is significantly more energetic, meaning that it contributes more to the stress energy tensor than the force of gravity
But recall that the force of gravity is the momentum change “due to” the curvature of spacetime. The fact that the force of gravity can bend spacetime at all is a really weird second-order perturbative effect.
These perturbative effects are typically described with a quantum field theory, but gravity has been thus far notably difficult to quantize.
But didn’t you just say that the electric field curves it too?
The electric field curves it insofar as any energy curves it. The force exerted by the em field is independent of this curvature, though.