Paper
General Relativity
Published Aug 6, 2021 · Øyvind Grøn
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Abstract
In 1915, ten years after his discovery of the special theory of relativity, Albert Einstein extended his Fundamental Postulate to include all observers, not just those in inertial frames. The result was the general theory of relativity that produced the second major paradigm shift of the early 20th century. Spacetime was transformed from the rigid stage on which objects moved to an active player that was affected by the presence of these objects and in turn affected their motion. We start by pointing out the deficiencies, both theoretical and experimental, in Newton’s theory of gravity and then show how Einstein’s more general fundamental postulate was able to fix all of them with a single stroke. We next explain how an evolving geometry can account for the features of gravity with which we are familiar. Some of the amazing consequences of this world-view are then detailed. The second half of the Chapter is devoted to a pedagogical description of three fascinating and closely related topics that, at the time of writing, are evolving at great speed both theoretically and observationally. These are: gravitational waves, black holes and cosmology.
General relativity's foundational principles will play a central role in reformulating the theory of spacetime structure to meet the challenges of cosmology in the 21st century.
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