general relativity

noun

1. Physics.,  relativity2

General Relativity

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 equivalence principle Special Relativity

Example Sentences

It suggests that gravitational waves -- predicted by general relativity -- may be the true driving force behind the universe's formation, giving rise to galaxies, stars, planets, and ultimately life on Earth.

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The meaning of life, the laws of general relativity, quantum mechanics, Fermat's last theorem.

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This large computing power was essential to solve Maxwell's equations and the equations of motion for electrons and positrons according to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

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I can’t personally verify the weather in Tucson, or general relativity, or the reality of climate change, either.

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Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest Georges Lemaitre made that connection by realizing that the theory of general relativity described an expanding universe.

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