Introduction to general relativity: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:35, 16 January 2025

Revision as of 02:31, 21 February 2025

Line 4:

{{General relativity sidebar}}

'''General relativity''' is a [[scientific theory|theory]] of [[gravitation]] developed by [[Albert Einstein]] between 1907 and 1915. The theory of general relativity says that the observed gravitational effect between masses (e.g. stars and planets etc) results from their warping of [[spacetime]], which can be explained through a trampoline case.

By the beginning of the 20th century, [[Newton's law of universal gravitation]] had been accepted for more than two hundred years as a valid description of the gravitational force between masses. In Newton's model, gravity is the result of an attractive force between massive objects. Although even Newton was troubled by the unknown nature of that force, the basic framework was extremely successful at describing motion.

Line 10:

Experiments and observations show that Einstein's description of gravitation accounts for several effects that are unexplained by Newton's law, such as minute anomalies in the [[orbit]]s of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] and other [[planet]]s. General relativity also predicts novel effects of gravity, such as [[gravitational wave]]s, [[gravitational lens]]ing and an effect of gravity on time known as [[gravitational time dilation]]. Many of these predictions have been confirmed by experiment or observation, [[Gravitational wave observation|most recently gravitational waves]].

General relativity has developed into an essential tool in modern [[astrophysics]]. It provides the foundation for the current understanding of [[black hole]]s, regions of space where the gravitational effect is strong enough that even light cannot escape. Their strong gravity is thought to be responsible for the intense [[radiation]] emitted by certain types of astronomical objects (such as [[Active galactic nucleus|active galactic nuclei]] or [[microquasarMicroquasar]]s). General relativity is also part of the framework of the standard [[Big Bang]] model of [[Physical cosmology|cosmology]].

Although general relativity is not the only relativistic theory of gravity, it is the simplest one that is consistent with the experimental data. Nevertheless, a number of open questions remain, the most fundamental of which is how general relativity can be reconciled with the laws of [[Introduction to quantum mechanics|quantum physics]] to produce a complete and self-consistent theory of [[quantum gravity]].