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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–Hilbert action in general relativity is the action that yields the Einstein field equations through the stationary-action principle. With the (− + + +) metric signature , the gravitational part of the action is given as [ 1 ]
Next, notice that only 10 of the original 14 equations are independent, because the continuity equation ; = is a consequence of Einstein's equations. This reflects the fact that the system is gauge invariant (in general, absent some symmetry, any choice of a curvilinear coordinate net on the same system would correspond to a numerically ...
In general relativity, an exact solution is a (typically closed form) solution of the Einstein field equations whose derivation does not invoke simplifying approximations of the equations, though the starting point for that derivation may be an idealized case like a perfectly spherical shape of matter.
Einstein discussed his idea with mathematician Marcel Grossmann and they concluded that general relativity could be formulated in the context of Riemannian geometry which had been developed in the 1800s. [10] In 1915, he devised the Einstein field equations which relate the curvature of spacetime with the mass, energy, and any momentum within it.
The solutions to the equation are mathematical functions which correspond directly to the field, as functions of time and space. Since the field equation is a partial differential equation, there are families of solutions which represent a variety of physical possibilities. Usually, there is not just a single equation, but a set of coupled ...
Albert Einstein's discovery of the gravitational field equations of general relativity and David Hilbert's almost simultaneous derivation of the theory using an elegant variational principle, [B 1]: 170 during a period when the two corresponded frequently, has led to numerous historical analyses of their interaction.
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'.