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General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics.
The term "theory of relativity" was based on the expression "relative theory" (German: Relativtheorie) used in 1906 by Planck, who emphasized how the theory uses the principle of relativity. In the discussion section of the same paper, Alfred Bucherer used for the first time the expression "theory of relativity" (German: Relativitätstheorie ...
In Einstein's theory and related theories of gravitation, curvature at every point in spacetime is also caused by whatever matter is present. Here, too, mass is a key property in determining the gravitational influence of matter. But in a relativistic theory of gravity, mass cannot be the only source of gravity.
By definition, an affine connection is a bilinear map () (), where () is a space of all vector fields on the spacetime. This bilinear map can be described in terms of a set of connection coefficients (also known as Christoffel symbols ) specifying what happens to components of basis vectors under infinitesimal parallel transport: ∇ e i e j ...
Newton's law was later superseded by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, but the universality of the gravitational constant is intact and the law still continues to be used as an excellent approximation of the effects of gravity in most applications.
He published a Lorentz invariant theory on four-dimensional spacetime, where gravity is transmitted by gravitational waves that travel at the speed of light. As Einstein later said, the reason for the development of general relativity was the preference of inertial motion within special relativity , while a theory which from the outset prefers ...
Gravity is one of the universe's fundamental forces. Einstein's theory linked space, time and gravity. It holds that concentrations of mass and energy curve the structure of space-time ...
Einstein's theory of general relativity (including the cosmological constant) is thought to be the only theory of gravity that satisfies the strong equivalence principle. A number of alternative theories, such as Brans–Dicke theory and the Einstein-aether theory add additional fields.