Relativity
ALTERNATIVE NAME/S: General Relativity
DETAILS/DESCRIPTION:
General relativity is a theory of gravitation with which many mathematicians have been concerned: Aristotle, Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo (who was instrumental in facilitating Newton’s to expression of his basic theory of gravity in his Principia in 1687).
But it was Einstein* who achieved credit for explaining relativity in understandable terms. Einstein began submitting papers on relativity theory in 1905, but many contained errors, and he had to correct, modify, and re-publish his results.
A paper in 1915 finally provided the correct equations, and in March 1916, Einstein completed a paper on relativity that was readily understood by the general public.
Today, relativity plays a role in many areas: cosmology, the “big bang” theory of the universe’s creation, etc., and has been checked by numerous experiments [especially in astronomy] to a high degree of accuracy.
The general theory of relativity states that: (a) there is no observable absolute motion, only relative motion; (b) the velocity of light is constant and not dependent on the motion of the source (c) no energy can be transmitted at a velocity greater than that of light; (d) the mass of a body in motion is a function of the energy content and varies with the velocity (e) matter and energy are equivalent; (f) time is relative; (g) space and time are interdependent and form a four-dimensional continuum; h) the presence of matter results in a “warping” of the space-time continuum, so that the path of energy moving past a body will follow a curve, thanks to the gravitational effect of the body. This phenomenon was shown during an eclipse by the deflection of stellar light rays passing through the sun’s gravitational field.
ONELINER: Theory of relativity
OTHER CONNECTIONS: None
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
EB