general relativity

noun

1. Physics. relativity2

General Relativity

/ jĕn′ər-əl /

1. A geometrical theory of gravity developed by Albert Einstein in which gravity's effects are a consequence of the curvature of four-dimensional space-time. According to this theory, the energy and momentum of all matter and radiation cause curvature in space-time, in a way similar to the creation of electric and magnetic fields by electric charges and currents. This curvature also opens the possibility that the universe is closed, having finite volume but without any boundary. Among the many experimentally confirmed consequences of General Relativity are the perihelion precession of the planet Mercury, the bending of light in a gravitational field, and the slowing of time in a gravitational field.
2. See also closed universe

Example Sentences

Apparently extra police had to be called in to control a crowd of 4,500 who “broke down iron gates and mauled each other” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to hear an explanation of general relativity.

From Science News

Rival research groups’ computer codes are now agreeing on how supernova shock waves evolve, while simulations have advanced so far that even the effects of Einstein’s notoriously intricate general relativity are being included.

From Quanta Magazine

Now he glimpsed it again in the mathematics of general relativity.

From Nautilus

Einstein constructed general relativity with the express purpose of eliminating nonlocality from physics.

From Quanta Magazine

You can think about changing Einstein’s equations of general relativity in two ways.

From Quanta Magazine

For that reason, researchers have developed a framework to describe quantum theory in combination with general relativity.

From The Daily Beast

The equations of general relativity unambiguously predict event horizons forming if mass is sufficiently concentrated.

From The Daily Beast