For comparison, in general relativity, a Lorentzian manifold is likewise equipped with a metric tensor , which is a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form on the tangent space at each point of . In coordinates, it may be represented by a matrix "depending on spacetime position". Minkowski space is thus a comparatively simple special case of a Lorentzian manifold. Its metric tensor is in coordinates the same symmetric matrix at every point of , and its arguments can, per above, be taken as vectors in spacetime itself.