Gravitation as a research area investigates the fundamental interaction responsible for the attraction between masses, spanning classical, relativistic, and quantum regimes. It encompasses the study of Newtonian gravity for weak-field, low-velocity systems, general relativity for strong-field and cosmological phenomena, and experimental and observational tests across scales from laboratory to astrophysical and cosmological. The field also includes gravitational wave physics, black hole and neutron star dynamics, precision tests of the equivalence principle, alternative and modified gravity theories, and efforts toward quantum gravity, such as loop quantum gravity, string-inspired models, and semiclassical approaches, with strong connections to cosmology and high-energy theory.
When speaking of our universe, it's often said that "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move." This is the essence of Albert Einstein's famous general theory of relativity, and describes ...
General Physics
Jun 4, 2024
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Gravity is one of four fundamental interactions. The most precise description of this force is still provided by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, an entirely classical theory. This description sets ...
General Physics
May 7, 2024
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Gravity is part of our everyday life. Still, the gravitational force remains mysterious: to this day we do not understand whether its ultimate nature is geometrical, as Einstein envisaged, or governed by the laws of quantum ...
General Physics
May 1, 2024
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Several thousand sensors distributed over a square kilometer near the South Pole are tasked with answering one of the large outstanding questions in physics: does quantum gravity exist? The sensors monitor neutrinos—particles ...
General Physics
Mar 26, 2024
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Just over a week ago, European physicists announced they had measured the strength of gravity on the smallest scale ever.
General Physics
Mar 4, 2024
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Scientists are a step closer to unraveling the mysterious forces of the universe after working out how to measure gravity on a microscopic level.
Quantum Physics
Feb 23, 2024
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The power of gravity is writ large across our visible universe. It can be seen in the lock step of moons as they circle planets; in wandering comets pulled off-course by massive stars; and in the swirl of gigantic galaxies. ...
General Physics
Jan 23, 2024
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The expansion of the universe at some stage of evolution is well described by the Friedmann model. It was derived from general relativity a hundred years ago, but it is still considered one of the most important and relevant ...
General Physics
Jan 22, 2024
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The general theory of relativity is based on the concept of curved space–time. To describe how the energy and momentum of fields are distributed in space–time, as well as how they interact with the gravitational field, ...
General Physics
Jan 18, 2024
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One of the greatest challenges of modern physics is to find a coherent method for describing phenomena, on the cosmic and microscale. For over a hundred years, to describe reality on a cosmic scale we have been using general ...
