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General relativity

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Black Hole Echoes Would Reveal Break With Einstein’s Theory

March 22, 2018

Gravitational waves have opened up new ways to test the properties of black holes — and Einstein’s theory of gravity along with them.

How Einstein Lost His Bearings, and With Them, General Relativity

March 14, 2018

By 1913, Albert Einstein had nearly completed general relativity. But a simple mistake set him on a tortured, two-year reconsideration of his theory. Today, mathematicians still grapple with the issues he confronted.

To Test Einstein’s Equations, Poke a Black Hole

March 8, 2018

Two teams of researchers have made significant progress toward proving the black hole stability conjecture, a critical mathematical test of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Physicists Find a Way to See the ‘Grin’ of Quantum Gravity

March 6, 2018

A recently proposed experiment would confirm that gravity is a quantum force.

Newfound Wormhole Allows Information to Escape Black Holes

October 23, 2017

Physicists theorize that a new “traversable” kind of wormhole could resolve a baffling paradox and rescue information that falls into black holes.

Q&A

A Defense of the Reality of Time

May 16, 2017

Time isn’t just another dimension, argues Tim Maudlin. To make his case, he’s had to reinvent geometry.

What Sonic Black Holes Say About Real Ones

November 8, 2016

Can a fluid analogue of a black hole point physicists toward the theory of quantum gravity, or is it a red herring?

A Debate Over the Physics of Time

July 19, 2016

According to our best theories of physics, the universe is a fixed block where time only appears to pass.

Q&A

From Einstein’s Theory to Gravity’s Chirp

February 18, 2016

The path from a revolutionary set of equations to the detection of gravitational waves was strewn with obstacles and controversy, explains the physicist Daniel Kennefick — and the struggle continues.

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