Einsteinova teorija ima važne astrofizičke posljedice. Na primjer, ona podrazumijeva postojanje crnih rupa—regija u prostoru u kojima su prostor i vrijeme iskrivljeni na takav način da ništa, čak ni svjetlo, ne može pobjeći—kao završno stanje masivnih zvijezda. Postoji mnogo dokaza da intenzivna zračenja koje emitiraju određene vrste astronomskih objekata dešavaju zbog crnih rupa; na primjer, mikrokvazari i aktivna galaksijska jezgra su rezultat postojanja zvjezdanih crnih rupa i crnih rupa znatno veće masivne vrste. Savijanje svjetlosti gravitacijom može dovesti do fenomena gravitacione leće, u kojem je više slika istog udaljenog astronomskog objekta vidljivo na nebu. Opća relativnost također predviđa postojanje gravitacionih talasa, koji su posredno bili posmatrani; direktna mjerenja su cilj projekata kao što su LIGO i NASA/ESA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna i raznih "pulsar timing arrays". Osim toga, opća relativnost je osnova tekućih kosmoloških modela konzistentnog širenja svemira.
Historija
Ubrzo nakon što je 1905. objavio specijalnu teoriju relativnosti, Einstein je počeo da razmišlja o tome kako da ugradi gravitaciju u svoj novi relativistički okvir. Godine 1907., počevši od jednostavnog misaonog eksperimenta koji je uključivao posmatrača u slobodnom padu, krenuo je u osmogodišnju potragu za relativističkom teorijom gravitacije. Nakon brojnih zaobilaznica i lažnih startova, njegov rad je kulminirao prezentacijom Pruskoj akademiji nauka u novembru 1915. onoga što je danas poznato kao jednačine Einsteinovog polja, koje čine jezgro Einsteinove opšte teorije relativnosti.[2] Ove jednačine određuju kako na geometriju prostora i vremena utiču bilo koja materija i radijacija. Verzija neeuklidske geometrije, nazvana Rimanova geometrija, omogućila je Einsteinu da razvije opštu relativnost obezbeđujući ključni matematički okvir na koji je uklapao svoje fizičke ideje gravitacije.[3] Ovu ideju je ukazao matematičar Marcel Grossman, a objavili su je Grosman i Einstein 1913. godine.[4]
Jednačine Einsteinovog polja su nelinearne i smatraju se teškim za rješavanje. Einstein je koristio metode aproksimacije u izradi početnih predviđanja teorije. Ali 1916. godine, astrofizičar Karl Schwarzschild pronašao je prvo netrivijalno egzaktno rješenje jednačina Einsteinovog polja, Schwarzschildovu metriku. Ovo rješenje je postavilo temelje za opis završnih faza gravitacionog kolapsa i objekata danas poznatih kao crne rupe. Iste godine poduzeti su prvi koraci ka generalizaciji Schwarzschildovog rješenja na električno nabijene objekte, što je na kraju rezultiralo Reissner-Nordströmovim rješenjem, koje je sada povezano s električno nabijenim crnim rupama.[5] Godine 1917. Einstein je primjenio svoju teoriju na univerzum kao cjelinu, pokrećući polje relativističke kosmologije. U skladu sa savremenim razmišljanjem, on je pretpostavio statičan univerzum, dodajući novi parametar svojim originalnim jednačinama polja – kosmološku konstantu – kako bi odgovarao toj opservacionoj pretpostavci.[6] Do 1929. godine, međutim, rad Hubblea i drugih pokazao je da se naš svemir širi. Ovo se lako opisuje proširenim kosmološkim rješenjima koja je pronašao Friedman 1922. godine, a koja ne zahtijevaju kosmološku konstantu. Lemaître je koristio ova rješenja kako bi formulisao najraniju verziju modela Velikog praska, u kojem je naš svemir evoluirao iz izuzetno vrućeg i gustog ranijeg stanja.[7]Einstein je kasnije proglasio kosmološku konstantu najvećom greškom u svom životu.[8]
^Moshe Carmeli (2008).Relativity: Modern Large-Scale Structures of the Cosmos. str.92, 93.World Scientific Publishing
^Grossmann for the mathematical part and Einstein for the physical part (1913). Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten Relativitätstheorie und einer Theorie der Gravitation (Outline of a Generalized Theory of Relativity and of a Theory of Gravitation), Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik, 62, 225–261. English translate
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