"... I don’t see any reason why anyone today would take Einstein’s general theory of relativity seriously as the foundation of a quantum theory of gravitation, if by Einstein’s theory is meant the theory with a Lagrangian density given by just the term {\sqrt{g} R / 16 \pi G}. It seems to me there’s no reason in the world to suppose that the Lagrangian does not contain all the higher terms with more factors of the curvature and/or more derivatives, all of which are suppressed by inverse powers of the Planck mass, and of course don’t show up at any energy far below the Planck mass, much less in astronomy or particle physics. Why would anyone suppose that these higher terms are absent?"
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 May 1916 and is the accepted description of the gravitation of macroscopic objects in modern physics. General relativity generalizes special relativity and refines Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a uni
"Einsteins general theory of relativity... was needed not because of conspicuous failures of Newtons theory... but because of inconsistencies between it and the requirements of electromagnetic theory, which Einstein had revised earlier in his special theory of relativity."
General relativity"The theoretical developments involving general relativity in the period prior to the renaissance made use of central principles of Einstein’s theory and of his s and methodology; the physicists who pursued these developments mostly did so, however, not to explore general relativity for its own sake but, rather, from an ulterior motive—the construction of some sort of successor theory. This goal they did not achieve. They did not consider general relativity itself to be a theory fundamental enough to warrant detailed theoretical study, nor did they believe that it held much empirical potential beyond what was already known. There was one central exception to this latter belief, and that is cosmology."
General relativity"Differential geometry originally sneaked into theoretical physics through Einsteins theory of general relativity."
General relativity"September 1959 to September 1960—a year with great portents for Einsteins general theory of relativity. ...a paper by Robert V. Pound and Glen A. Rebka, Jr. ...entitled "Apparent Weight of Photons"... described the first successful laboratory measurement of the... gravitational red shift of light... A few months later, in June 1960... there appeared a paper by... Roger Penrose... "A Approach to General Relativity." ...[which] outlined a very elegant and streamlined technique for solving certain problems in general relativity. ...Later that summer ... ...[put] the finishing touches on his Ph.D. thesis ..."Machs Principle and a Varying Gravitational Constant." ...[which] presented the equations for ...an alternative to Einsteins ...a "scaler-tensor" theory of gravity ...[eventually] known as the ."
General relativity"The theory of gravitational fields, constructed on the basis of the theory of relativity, is called the general theory of relativity. It was established by Einstein (and finally formulated by him in 1915), and represents probably the most beautiful of all existing physical theories. It is remarkable that it was developed by Einstein in a purely deductive manner and only later was substantiated by astronomical observations."
General relativity"It thus characterizes not only the gravitational field but also the behaviour of measuring rods and clocks, i.e. the metric of the four-dimensional world which contains the geometry of ordinary three-dimensional space as a special case. This fusion of two previously quite disconnected subjects—metric and gravitation—must be considered as the most beautiful achievement of the general theory of relativity."
General relativity