Einstein field equations
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Spacetime metric
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Gravitation
type: Concept
narrower: General relativity

Relativity
type: Concept
narrower: General relativity

Gravitational lensing
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Gravitational collapse
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Gravitational waves
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Geodesics
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Evolution equation
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

Gravitational singularities
type: Concept
broader: General relativity

General relativity
type: Concept
definition: The theory of gravitation developed by Albert Einstein (1916) that describes the gravitation as the space-time curvature caused by the presence of matter or energy. Mass creates a gravitational field which distorts the space and changes the flow of time. In other words, mass causes a deviation of the metric of space-time continuum from that of the 'flat' space-time structure described by the Euclidean geometry and treated in special relativity. General relativity developed from the principle of equivalence between gravitational and inertial forces. According to general relativity, photons follow a curved path in a gravitational field. This prediction was confirmed by the measurements of star positions near the solar limb during the total eclipse of 1919. The same effect is seen in the delay of radio signals coming from distant space probes when grazing the Sun's surface. Moreover, the space curvature caused by the Sun makes the perihelion of Mercury's orbit advance by 43'' per century more than that predicted by Newton's theory of gravitation. The perihelion advance can reach several degrees per year for binary pulsar orbits. Another effect predicted by general relativity is the gravitational reddening. This effect is verified in the redshift of spectral lines in the solar spectrum and, even more obviously, in white dwarfs. Other predictions of the theory include gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, and the invariance of Newton's gravitational constant.
alternative label: General theory of relativity
narrower: Geodesics
narrower: Einstein field equations
narrower: Gravitational singularities
narrower: Gravitational collapse
narrower: Gravitational waves
narrower: Spacetime metric
narrower: Evolution equation
narrower: Gravitational lensing
modified: 2020-11-09T15:10:47.707Z
modified: 2020-11-09T15:10:59.183Z
broader: Relativity
broader: Gravitation
contributor: AAS Frey.Katie