equivalence principle
E7349
The equivalence principle is the foundational idea in relativity that locally, the effects of gravity are indistinguishable from those of acceleration, unifying gravitational and inertial mass.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
concept in general relativity
ⓘ
physical principle ⓘ |
| appliesTo | all non-gravitational interactions in Einstein equivalence principle ⓘ |
| assumes | test bodies do not significantly disturb the gravitational field ⓘ |
| category | principle of relativity ⓘ |
| conceptualConsequence | gravity can be described as curvature of spacetime ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | view of gravity as a Newtonian force field ⓘ |
| coreIdea | locally effects of gravity are indistinguishable from effects of acceleration ⓘ |
| EinsteinFormIncludes |
local Lorentz invariance
ⓘ
local position invariance ⓘ |
| experimentalStatus | verified to very high precision ⓘ |
| field |
gravitational physics
ⓘ
physics ⓘ relativity theory ⓘ |
| foundationOf | general relativity ⓘ |
| hasFormulation |
Einstein equivalence principle
ⓘ
strong equivalence principle ⓘ weak equivalence principle ⓘ |
| hasKeyPhrase | locally, physics in a freely falling frame is that of special relativity ⓘ |
| historicalDevelopmentPeriod | early 20th century ⓘ |
| implies |
all test bodies fall with same acceleration in a given gravitational field
ⓘ
equivalence between uniform acceleration and uniform gravitational field locally ⓘ universality of free fall ⓘ |
| inspiredBy |
Galileo Galilei's experiments on falling bodies
ⓘ
Newtonian concept of equality of inertial and gravitational mass ⓘ |
| localFrameDescription | in a freely falling frame laws of physics reduce to those of special relativity ⓘ |
| localityCondition | valid only in sufficiently small regions of spacetime ⓘ |
| mathematicalConsequence | motion of free-falling test particles follows geodesics of spacetime ⓘ |
| predicts |
Shapiro time delay qualitatively
ⓘ
gravitational redshift ⓘ gravitational time dilation ⓘ light bending in a gravitational field ⓘ |
| proposedBy | Albert Einstein ⓘ |
| relates |
gravitational mass
ⓘ
inertial mass ⓘ |
| statesEqualityOf | gravitational mass and inertial mass ⓘ |
| strongFormIncludes |
gravitational binding energy
ⓘ
self-gravitating bodies ⓘ |
| testedBy |
Eötvös-type torsion balance experiments
ⓘ
Lunar Laser Ranging experiments ⓘ MICROSCOPE satellite mission ⓘ atom interferometry experiments ⓘ |
| usedByTheory |
general relativity
ⓘ
surface form:
Einstein's theory of general relativity
|
| usedInThoughtExperiment | Einstein's elevator ⓘ |
| violationsSearchedIn | alternative theories of gravity ⓘ |
| violationsWouldImply | breakdown of general relativity ⓘ |
| weakFormFocusesOn | universality of free fall for test bodies ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.