general relativity

E46425

geometric theory of gravity physical theory relativistic field theory theory of gravitation

General relativity is Albert Einstein’s theory of gravitation that describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by mass and energy, successfully explaining phenomena from planetary orbits to black holes and gravitational waves.

Aliases (2)

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	geometric theory of gravity → physical theory → relativistic field theory → theory of gravitation →
appliesTo	high velocities → strong gravitational fields →
assumes	constancy of speed of light locally → local Lorentz invariance →
basedOn	equivalence principle → principle of general covariance →
coreEquation	Einstein field equations →
describes	gravitation → gravity as curvature of spacetime →
domain	astrophysics → cosmology → macroscopic scales →
field	gravitational physics → theoretical physics →
formulatedBy	Albert Einstein →
generalizes	special relativity →
historicalPrecursor	Einstein’s 1907 equivalence principle paper → Einstein’s 1911 gravitational redshift work →
includes	Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric → Kerr metric → Reissner–Nordström metric → Schwarzschild solution →
incompatibleWith	standard formulation of quantum mechanics →
mathematicalFramework	Riemannian geometry → differential geometry →
motivates	search for quantum gravity →
predicts	bending of light by gravity → black holes → cosmological expansion solutions → frame dragging → gravitational redshift → gravitational time dilation → gravitational waves → perihelion precession of Mercury →
publicationYear	1915 →
relates	spacetime curvature to energy-momentum →
replaces	Newtonian theory of gravitation →
testedBy	Eddington 1919 solar eclipse expedition → GPS time dilation corrections → Gravity Probe B experiment → LIGO gravitational wave detections → binary pulsar observations →
usesConcept	curvature tensor → geodesics → metric tensor → spacetime manifold →

Referenced by (56)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Bianchi identities → Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability → Christoffel symbols → Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie → Einstein's elevator → Einstein–Maxwell equations → Einstein–Rosen bridge → Gibbons–Hawking temperature → Kruskal–Szekeres coordinates → Penrose process for energy extraction → Ricci curvature tensor → The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes → Über das Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der Einsteinschen Theorie →	field
Alexander Friedmann → Dennis Sciama → George Szekeres → Hans Reissner → Howard P. Robertson → Karl Schwarzschild → Karl Schwarzschild → Leopold Infeld → Roy Kerr →	fieldOfWork
Boyer–Lindquist coordinates → Euler–Lagrange equation → Kerr Penrose diagram → Lorentzian geometry → Painlevé–Gullstrand coordinates → Reissner–Nordström Penrose diagram → Riemann curvature tensor → Schwarzschild Penrose diagram → Schwarzschild coordinates →	usedIn
Big Bang → Big Bang cosmology → Penrose process for energy extraction → false vacuum inflation → hypothesis of the primeval atom → Über das Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der Einsteinschen Theorie ("general theory of relativity") →	basedOn
Kerr metric → Reissner–Nordström metric →	belongsToTheory
Einstein tensor → spacetime manifold →	usedInTheory
Levi-Civita connection →	appearsIn
Noether's theorem →	appliesIn
Bardeen black hole model →	basedOnTheory
Kerr–Newman black hole →	describedByTheory
Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie ("general theory of relativity") →	describesTheory
A Brief History of Time →	explainsConcept
Ricci scalar →	fieldOfStudy
Über die Hypothesen, welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen →	impactOn
Friedrich Bernhard Riemann →	influenced
Einstein's annus mirabilis papers ("general theory of relativity") →	preceded
Einstein's elevator ("general theory of relativity") →	relatedTo
The Universe in a Nutshell →	subject
Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates →	underlyingTheory
equivalence principle ("Einstein's theory of general relativity") →	usedByTheory
Emmy Noether →	workedOn