Einsteins theory of special relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. As pointed out in refs 2, 3, no conclusion and result in current theory of relativity is first presented by einstein. Also, under einsteins theory of general relativity, gravity can bend time. Einstein just put others results based on the ether theory into one paper. Singularities and the geometry of spacetime european physical. The spacetime continuum of the general theory of relativity is not a euclidean continuum 111 xxviii. Spacetime is usually understood to describe space existing in three dimensions, with time playing the role of a fourth dimension and all four coming together to form a. Contributions here include summaries of radical changes in the notions of space and time that are emerging from quantum field theory in curved spacetimes ford, string theory t. So far, the singularity problem for theories with torsion had been studied defining geodesics as extremal curves. Exact formulation of the general principle of relativity 29. Relativity with particular reference to the occurrence of singularities in. Exact formulation of the general principle of relativity 115 xxix.
Lecture notes on general relativity matthias blau universitat bern. The term general relativity is thus something of a misnomer, as pointed out by hermann minkowski and others. Special relativity is a theory of the structure of spacetime. In his special theory of relativity, einstein states two postulates. The solution of the problem of gravitation on the basis of the general principle of relativity part iii. The spacetime continuum of the general theory of realtivity is not a euclidean continuum 28. The block universe idea, representing spacetime as a fixed whole. Space in the est model cannot expand without time also expanding.
Einstein gained acceptance for the fourdimensional model of the uni verse. In relativity, there is no real distinction between the space and time coordinates, just as there is no real difference between any two space coordinates. This insight culminated in his famous theory of general relativity. By his theory of relativity albert einstein has provoked a revolution of. Its important to understand einsteins work on the spacetime continuum and how it relates to the enterprise traveling through space. The speed of light about 300,000,000 meters per second is the same for all observers, whether or not theyre moving. The theory does not make spacetime more relative than it was in special relativity.
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