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Gravity is understood as the curvature of spacetime rather than as a traditional force.
General relativity is Einstein's geometric theory of gravity, published in 1916. It describes gravity not as a conventional force but as the curvature of four-dimensional spacetime caused by matter, energy, momentum, and stress. Freely falling objects follow geodesics, or the natural paths determined by spacetime geometry, while the Einstein field equations specify how stress-energy produces curvature. This framework generalizes special relativity and reduces to Newtonian gravity in weak gravitational fields and for slow-moving objects. The theory predicts effects beyond Newton's law, including gravitational time dilation, gravitational redshift, light deflection, gravitational lensing, the Shapiro time delay, black holes, singularities, and gravitational waves. Its predictions have been repeatedly confirmed, including the anomalous orbit of Mercury, the bending of starlight, observations of black holes, and direct detections of gravitational waves. General relativity also forms the foundation of modern cosmology and expanding-universe models, although reconciling it with quantum physics remains an unresolved challenge.
Gravity is understood as the curvature of spacetime rather than as a traditional force.
The Einstein field equations relate spacetime curvature to the distribution of matter, energy, momentum, and stress.
The equivalence principle states that locally, the effects of gravity are indistinguishable from those of acceleration.
General relativity explains phenomena such as gravitational time dilation, gravitational lensing, black holes, and gravitational waves.
Newtonian gravity is recovered as an approximation in weak gravitational fields and at low speeds.
The theory provides the geometric foundation for modern cosmology but has not yet been consistently unified with quantum mechanics.
The unified four-dimensional structure consisting of three dimensions of space and one dimension of time.
The geometric distortion of spacetime produced by matter, energy, momentum, and stress.
A system of equations that describes how stress-energy determines the curvature of spacetime.
The principle that gravitational effects and the effects of uniform acceleration are locally indistinguishable.
The natural path followed by a freely falling object through curved spacetime.
The slowing of time measured by a clock in a stronger gravitational field relative to one in a weaker field.
The bending and distortion of light caused by the curvature of spacetime around massive objects.
A region of spacetime whose gravitational curvature prevents anything, including light, from escaping.
A propagating ripple in spacetime curvature generated by accelerating massive objects.
A mathematical quantity describing the density and flow of energy and momentum, as well as pressure and shear.
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