can anyone explain general and special relativity in a simple manner?

Answer 1

SPECIAL THEORY:
The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Some three centuries earlier, Galileo's principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest; a person on the deck of a ship may be at rest in his opinion, but someone observing from the shore would say that he was moving. Einstein's theory combines Galilean relativity with the postulate that all observers will always measure the speed of light to be the same no matter what their state of uniform linear motion is.

This theory has a variety of surprising consequences that seem to violate common sense, but that have been verified experimentally. Special relativity overthrows Newtonian notions of absolute space and time by stating that distance and time depend on the observer, and that time and space are perceived differently, depending on the observer. It yields the equivalence of matter and energy, as expressed in the famous equation E=mc2, where c is the speed of light. Special relativity agrees with Newtonian mechanics in their common realm of applicability, in experiments in which all velocities are small compared to the speed of light.

The theory was called "special" because it applies the principle of relativity only to inertial frames. Einstein developed general relativity to apply the principle generally, that is, to any frame, and that theory includes the effects of gravity. Special relativity doesn't account for gravity, but it can deal with accelerations.

Although special relativity makes relative some quantities, such as time, that we would have imagined to be absolute based on everyday experience, it also makes absolute some others that we would have thought were relative. In particular, it states that the speed of light is the same for all observers, even if they are in motion relative to one another. Special relativity reveals that c is not just the velocity of a certain phenomenon - light - but rather a fundamental feature of the way space and time are tied together. In particular, special relativity states that it is impossible for any material object to travel as fast as light.

GENERAL THEORY:
General relativity is the geometrical theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915/16. It unifies special relativity and Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation with the insight that gravitation is not due to a force but rather is a manifestation of curved space and time, with this curvature being produced by the mass-energy and momentum content of the spacetime. General relativity is distinguished from other metric theories of gravitation by its use of the Einstein field equations to relate spacetime content and spacetime curvature.

General relativity is currently the most successful gravitational theory, being almost universally accepted and well confirmed by observations. The first success of general relativity was in explaining the anomalous perihelion precession of Mercury. Then in 1919, Sir Arthur Eddington announced that observations of stars near the eclipsed Sun confirmed general relativity's prediction that massive objects bend light. Since then, many other observations and experiments have confirmed many of the predictions of general relativity, including gravitational time dilation, the gravitational redshift of light, signal delay, and gravitational radiation. In addition, numerous observations are interpreted as confirming the weirdest prediction of general relativity, the existence of black holes.

In the mathematics of general relativity, the Einstein field equations become a set of simultaneous differential equations which are solved to produce metric tensors of spacetime. These metric tensors describe the shape of the spacetime, and are used to obtain the predictions of general relativity. The connections of the metric tensors specify the geodesic paths that objects follow when traveling inertially. Important solutions of the Einstein field equations include the Schwarzschild solution (for the spacetime surrounding a spherically symmetric uncharged and non-rotating massive object), the Reissner-Nordström solution (for a charged spherically symmetric massive object), and the Kerr metric (for a rotating massive object).

In spite of its overwhelming success, there is discomfort with general relativity in the scientific community due to its being incompatible with quantum mechanics and the reachable singularities of black holes (at which the math of general relativity breaks down). Because of this, numerous other theories have been proposed as alternatives to general relativity. The most successful of these was Brans-Dicke theory, which appeared to have observational support in the 1960s. However, those observations have since been refuted and modern measurements indicate that any Brans-Dicke type of deviation from general relativity must be very small if it exists at all.

Answer 2

100 years of Einstein's SRT.
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The Vacuum and Special Relativity Theory.
Special Relativity Theory examines the behaviour of a quantum of light in the vacuum.
1) The First law of SRT - the speed of a quantum of light in vacuum has
a maximal magnitude (constant, absolute) of c=1.
2) SRT is not considered a gravitational field.
For this reason, Einstein created General Relativity Theory in 1915.
The field in which there is no gravitation is a vacuum.
3) This asserts that action in SRT occurs with particles in
negative four-dimensional (Minkowski) space. This space is absolute.
Mathematicians have constructed its model and speak
of this negative space as completely abstract.
Nobody sees that it has no connection to real existence.
This is similar to a sad joke.
For 100 years everyone has admired SRT.
Millions of articles, reviews and books have been written
and the United Nations has decided to establish 2005 as the centennial year of SRT.
Consider that all that is clear in this theory
is that negative four-dimensional space is abstract and has no real existence.
My God! There does not appear to be anyone to laugh at this joke!
Everyone searches for complex models of four-dimensional space,
but truth lies in simplicity.
All is very simple.
We meet the negative characteristic of space only in the vacuum, and in the vacuum,
space is merged with time (negative four-dimensional space).
According to the first law, the speed of light is absolute and movement occurs
in the absolute vacuum. So why does everyone speak and write that there is no
absolute movement; that only relative movement s =d/t is real?
Why does everyone say that there is no absolute reference system,
if the absolute speed can be only in absolute space?
Here we have one of the paradoxes in human intelligence.
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Pythagoras' theory applies equally to the largest and smallest triangle.
So mathematicians had decided, that this applies also to
the electromagnetic phenomena;
that the laws of a nature in the macrocosm and in a microcosm are identical.
It appears that this is not so.
In the macrocosm, Maxwell's laws apply
and in the microcosm, other laws, the laws of SRT operate.
These laws are interconnected.
SRT is a continuation of the development of electrodynamics.
* * *
There isn,t the Maxwell's theory / SRT without electron.
The electron is a main and single hero in the Maxwell's theory and SRT.
1) What does the electron do in Maxwell's theory?
Maxwell's equations have no relation to the movement of the electron.
They describe the distribution of electromagnetic waves
but not the movement of a particle such as an electron.
In Maxwell's theory, the charge - electron is considered local,
as though the particle is "at rest".
This means that it particle does not move rectilinearly,
but rotates around his diameter (has the form of a sphere).
The rotation of the electron creates electrical waves.
* * *
2) What does the electron do in SRT ?
At the beginning of the last century many scientists
(Einstein, Lorentz, Fitzgerald, Poincare, Abraham) were interested in the question:
“ What will take place, if the electron (Maxwell's) , creating an electrical field,
begins to move - rectilinearly?”
All of them came to the conclusion that there would be radical changes with the electron.
These changes are described by the Lorentz transformations.
That is when the originally rotating electron (sphere) begins to move rectilinearly,
during movement it gradually will change its geometrical form.
Having reached constant speed of c=1, its form will become a circle.
In such condition it is called a "quantum of light ",” photon”.
And when a quantum of light rotates around its diameter its name is “electron “
An "electron" is an actively working “quantum of light”.
With such an interpretation, electrodynamics and SRT become one general theory.
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Answer 3

Pinky guy is plenty off and definitely, looks speaking approximately relativism. Larry S is in a similar way clueless. in actual certainty lightspeed isn't relative while its measured from diverse positions and factors of view - it fairly is the factor. Lightspeed is a continuing. There are 2 theories of relativity, the particular theory, and the final theory. there are a number of solid books obtainable, loose from arithmetic. i choose to advise Brian Greene's 'the fabric of the Cosmos'.