Abbey Hull for redOrbit.com – @AbbeyHull4160
This year marks the 100th year of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Since its publication in 1915, his theory has redefined how scientists view the universe as Einstein’s predictions—bending of starlight, time stretching in a gravitational field, and orbital decay of binary neutron stars due to gravitational waves—have all been confirmed and expanded upon for years, advancing both physics and astronomy studies.
At the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in San Jose, California, Rochester Institute of Technology professor Manuela Campanelli helped celebrate this scientific mile-marker.
“The theory of general relativity changes completely the way we view gravitation in the universe,” said Campanelli, also the director of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation at RIT and professor of mathematical sciences. “It changes the paradigm. Gravity is no longer a force concept that was first introduced by Newton. Einstein’s theory says matter follows the geometry of space and time. It’s a theory that governs all gravitational phenomena of the macroscopic objects in the universe.”
Looking back on breakthroughs
In 2005, Campanelli as lead author, along with Carlos Lousto and Yosef Ziochower, professors at RIT and members of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitiation, created breakthrough research by computationally solving Einstein’s field equations that detail how black holes collide and generate gravitational waves.
“In the larger scale, in the scale of the universe and the scale of the macroscopic objects, everything follows the laws of gravitation, so understanding gravity would allow us to understand some hidden astrophysical phenomena in the universe, such as black hole collisions,” stated Campanelli.
This understanding expanding from Einstein’s theory could also provide insight into the universe with gravitational wave astronomy, and eventually an insight into the Big Bang.
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“We do science because we want to answer some fundamental questions,” Campanelli stated. “In my case, it’s about gravitation and how it works in the universe. But there is a whole series of other potential applications that come up when you advance knowledge in one direction, and sometimes it’s unexpected.”
If Albert Einstein himself could see how far his theory has come, he would be proud of our society’s scientists and the passionate work they’ve put into understanding our universe. Let us all take a moment and say thank you as we watch what new discoveries unfold from Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
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