General relativity is Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, which redefines Isaac Newton's picture of the invisible force between masses as curves in spacetime. In Einstein's model, the universe possesses an underlying fabric that mass and energy can bend. What we perceive as motion due to the pull of gravity is actually matter and light traveling along these bends.
Einstein's revision was necessary after he discovered that nothing could move faster than light, conflicting with Newton's belief that gravity had infinite speed. The equations of general relativity showed that it travels at the speed of light and explained inconsistencies between observations and predictions made by Newton's law of gravity, such as Mercury's orbit.
The theory predicted multiple phenomena that later proved to be true, including gravitational waves, black holes, differences in the passage of time at different elevations, and the bending of light around massive objects. General relativity enabled the development of GPS and provided the foundation for the Big Bang theory.
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The breakthrough came when Albert Einstein realized that freely falling is indistinguishable from weightlessness, leading him to the principle of equivalence between gravity and acceleration. His prediction that gravity bends light was confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse.
To maintain the consistency of experimental results involving electricity, magnetism, and light, time and space had to cease being absolute and could change in value to keep the speed of light constant. This cosmic speed limit forced Einstein to revise the existing model of gravity.
The specialized theory postulates the speed of light is the same for all observers and the laws of physics are identical in all settings where velocity is constant. These established the concept of spacetime, whose flexibility became even greater when used to explain gravity.
To preserve the speed of light for all observers, the universe sacrifices the uniformity of space and time through the phenomena of time dilation and length contraction. This means that individuals may disagree on measurements of time and space based on their motion or location in a gravitational field.
Forces are traditionally viewed as interactions that cause accelerations, such as the force between two magnets pulling them together or pushing them apart. General relativity reframes acceleration by describing motion along the curves of spacetime as natural, and only deviations from those paths require forces.
While depictions involving bends in elastic fabrics are common to illustrate gravity, they are circular representations that rely on gravity in the real world to depict gravity in the model. The river model instead shows how bends in spacetime convert speed through time into speed through space, producing acceleration.
First detected a century after Albert Einstein predicted their existence, gravitational waves transmit information about cosmological events by altering the shape of spacetime. Like ripples in water, these waves travel outward and can be detected on Earth, even for objects that do not emit light, such as black holes.
Recognizing the mathematical complexities of generalizing special relativity with a new picture of gravity and acceleration, Albert Einstein had Grossman introduce him to tensor calculus. Years before developing the precursor to GR together, Einstein would use Grossman's lecture notes to prepare for his exams.
Although working independently of one another, the two exchanged correspondence in the lead up to November 1915, when Hilbert submitted their gravitational field equations five days before Einstein presented their work. An error in Hilbert's formulation and its nonpublication until March 1916 would leave credit for general relativity to Einstein.
Isaac Newton believed that gravity acted instantaneously between objects with mass, whereas Albert Einstein suggested that spacetime curvature reacted at the universal speed limit. Observations of colliding neutron stars by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in 2017 confirmed Einstein's prediction.
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