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Special relativity (1905) governs physics without gravity and yields effects like time dilation, length contraction, and E = mc² through Lorentz transformations.
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity consists of two interrelated theories: special relativity (published in 1905) and general relativity (published in 1915). Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in the absence of gravity and is built on two postulates that replace the classical (Galilean) transformation rules with Lorentz transformations. It leads to core effects such as relativity of simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, a finite maximum speed (the speed of light), and mass–energy equivalence (E = mc²). General relativity extends the framework to include gravity. It begins with the equivalence principle, which treats accelerated motion and free-fall in a gravitational field as physically identical, implying that free fall is inertial motion. Einstein then reformulated gravity not as a conventional force but as the curvature of spacetime, expressed through the Einstein field equations that relate spacetime curvature to mass, energy, and momentum. This theory explains and predicts phenomena such as gravitational time dilation, orbital precession, light deflection, frame-dragging, and the expansion of the universe, and it has been repeatedly confirmed by experiments and observations.
Special relativity (1905) governs physics without gravity and yields effects like time dilation, length contraction, and E = mc² through Lorentz transformations.
General relativity (1915) explains gravity via curved spacetime using the Einstein field equations, grounded in the equivalence principle and confirmed by multiple classic tests.
A theory of spacetime structure (without gravity) based on Lorentz transformations, predicting time dilation, length contraction, and mass–energy equivalence.
A theory of gravitation in which gravity is described by the curvature of spacetime determined by the Einstein field equations.
The principle that accelerated motion and being at rest in a gravitational field are physically indistinguishable, implying free fall is inertial motion.
The mathematical transformations that replace Galilean transformations in special relativity and enforce the constancy of the speed of light.
Equations that relate the curvature of spacetime (via the metric tensor) to the distribution of mass, energy, and momentum.
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