Related papers: Classical General Relativity
Since the main open problem of contemporary physics is to find a unified description of the four interactions, we present a possible scenario which, till now only at the classical level, is able to englobe experiments ranging from…
The classical world structures borne by spacetimes endowed with torsionful affinities are reviewed. Subsequently, the definition and symmetry properties of a typical pair of Witten curvature spinors for such spacetimes are exhibited along…
The geometric foundations of General Relativity are revisited, with particular attention to its gauge invariance, as a key to understanding the true nature of spacetime. Beyond the common image of spacetime as a deformable 'fabric' filling…
In this two-part essay, we distinguish several senses in which general relativity has been regarded as "locally special relativistic". Here, in Part 1, we focus on senses in which a relativistic spacetime has been said to be "locally…
Principal ideas of gauge approach applying to gravitational interaction and leading to gravitation theory in Riemann-Cartan space-time are discussed. The principal relations of isotropic cosmology built in the framework of the Poincare…
The objective of this second part of the work is to present heuristic derivations of the three classical tests of general relativity. These derivations are based on the Einstein equivalence principle and use Newtonian physics as a…
We review the history of Newton-Cartan gravity with an emphasis on recent developments, including the covariant, off-shell large speed of light expansion of general relativity. Depending on the matter content, this expansion either leads to…
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation and the classical theory of defects in an elastic medium are presented and compared. The former is an extension of general relativity and refers to four-dimensional space-time, while we introduce…
Different aspects of relativity, mainly in a canonical formulation, relevant for the question "Is spacetime nothing more than a mathematical space (which describes the evolution in time of the ordinary three-dimensional world) or is it a…
As quotient spaces, Minkowski and de Sitter are fundamental, non-gravitational spacetimes for the construction of physical theories. When general relativity is constructed on a de Sitter spacetime, the usual Riemannian structure is replaced…
The Einsteinian Theory of Gravitation ("General Theory of Relativity") is founded essentially; on the reception that the geometrical properties of the 4-dimensional space-time continuum are defined from the matter in it. Contrary to this,…
General relativity can be recast as a theory of connections by performing a canonical transformation on its phase space. In this form, its (kinematical) structure is closely related to that of Yang-Mills theory and topological field…
After a brief summary of the Newton-Cartan theory in a form which emphasizes its close analogy to general relativity, we illustrate the theory with selective applications in cosmology. The geometrical formulation of this nonrelativistic…
The special theory of relativity has fundamentally changed our views of space and time. The relativity of simultaneity in particular, and the theory of relativity as a whole, still presents significant difficulty for beginners in the…
In this short survey paper, we discuss certain recent results in classical gravity. Our main attention is restricted to two topics: the positive mass conjecture and its extensions to the case with horizons, including the Penrose conjecture…
The Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity is analyzed from a classical presymplectic perspective. In the first part of the paper the Three Space Approach to General Relativity is introduced via the Barbour-Foster-\'O Murchadha action and the…
A discursive, non-technical, analysis is made of some of the basic issues that arise in almost any approach to quantum gravity, and of how these issues stand in relation to recent developments in the field. Specific topics include the…
The advent of general relativity settled it once and for all that a theory of spacetime is inextricably linked to the theory of gravity. From the point of view of the gauge principle of Weyl and Yang-Mills-Utiyama, it became manifest around…
The geometrical nature of gravity emerges from the universality dictated by the equivalence principle. In the usual formulation of General Relativity, the geometrisation of the gravitational interaction is performed in terms of the…
The basic physical structure of the relativistic theory of gravitation is discussed. The significant role that the Hypothesis of Locality plays in relativity theory is elucidated via the phenomenon of spin-rotation coupling. The limitations…