Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity
After eight years of work Einstein presented the final form of the gravitational field equations to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin in November 1915, describing gravity as the curvature of spacetime by mass and energy rather than as a force. The equations are nonlinear and were expected to resist exact solution; the immediate successes were the perihelion precession of Mercury, computed by Einstein himself, and the prediction of light deflection later tested in 1919. Everything in this Journey is a consequence of these equations, and the first of those consequences arrived within weeks.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Schwarzschild radius · physical threshold · not located
- Gravitational waves · phenomenon · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Ueber das Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der Einsteinschen Theorie
The first exact solution of the Einstein field equations for the vacuum outside a spherical mass, containing the radius now named for its author. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: the paper was NOT consulted in this session - WebFetch was refused by the network egress proxy for every host attempted and the WebSearch budget was exhausted before authoring began. Title, venue and page range are given from the author's recall of a canonical citation and must be checked.
Sitzungsberichte der Koeniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin · 1916 · Partly verified
Karl Schwarzschild, Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1916 (commonly cited at pages 189-196)
Recorded on Schwarzschild radius
- Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity
- Schwarzschild solves the field equations for a point mass
- GW150914 - two black holes merge and the signal reaches Earth
- The detection is announced and published
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The detection is announced and published · 2016-02-11
- GW150914 - two black holes merge and the signal reaches Earth · 2015-09-14 09:50:45 UTC
- Schwarzschild solves the field equations for a point mass · 1916