Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Einstein field equations (EFE) may be written in the form: [5] [1] + = EFE on the wall of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden, Netherlands. where is the Einstein tensor, is the metric tensor, is the stress–energy tensor, is the cosmological constant and is the Einstein gravitational constant.
The Einstein tensor is built up from the metric tensor and its partial derivatives; thus, given the stress–energy tensor, the Einstein field equations are a system of ten partial differential equations in which the metric tensor can be solved for.
The metric tensor is a central object in general relativity that describes the local geometry of spacetime (as a result of solving the Einstein field equations). Using the weak-field approximation, the metric tensor can also be thought of as representing the 'gravitational potential'. The metric tensor is often just called 'the metric'.
The Einstein field equations are nonlinear and considered difficult to solve. Einstein used approximation methods in working out initial predictions of the theory. But in 1916, the astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild found the first non-trivial exact solution to the Einstein field equations, the Schwarzschild metric. This solution laid the ...
In differential geometry, the Einstein tensor (named after Albert Einstein; also known as the trace-reversed Ricci tensor) is used to express the curvature of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold. In general relativity , it occurs in the Einstein field equations for gravitation that describe spacetime curvature in a manner that is consistent with ...
The term was coined by Albert Einstein, [3] who attempted to unify his general theory of relativity with electromagnetism. Einstein attempted to create a classical unified field theory, rejecting quantum mechanics. Among other difficulties, this required a new explanation of particles as singularities or solitons instead of field quanta.
The Einstein field equations are a system of coupled, nonlinear partial differential equations. In general, this makes them hard to solve. In general, this makes them hard to solve. Nonetheless, several effective techniques for obtaining exact solutions have been established.
The cosmological constant was originally introduced in Einstein's 1917 paper entitled “The cosmological considerations in the General Theory of Reality”. [2] Einstein included the cosmological constant as a term in his field equations for general relativity because he was dissatisfied that otherwise his equations did not allow for a static universe: gravity would cause a universe that was ...