Tests and Predictions of General Relativity
How relativity meets experiment
Mercury’s perihelion precession
General relativity correctly explains the extra precession of Mercury’s orbit that Newtonian gravity could not fully account for.
Light bending
Light passing near a massive object follows curved spacetime and is deflected. This effect was famously measured during a solar eclipse.
Gravitational redshift and time dilation
Clocks run at different rates in different gravitational potentials. This has been measured directly and must be corrected for in satellite navigation systems.
Gravitational waves
Accelerating masses can produce ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. These were directly detected a century after Einstein predicted them.
Applications
Without relativistic corrections, GPS would drift significantly because both special and general relativistic time effects alter satellite clock rates.
Which technology must account for both special and general relativistic effects to remain accurate?
GPS requires relativistic clock corrections to maintain precision.
Correct answer: GPS
Name one classical prediction explained by general relativity for Mercury's orbit.
GR accounts for the observed extra advance of Mercury’s perihelion.
Correct answer: Perihelion precession
Major tests of general relativity
Orbital tests
- Mercury perihelion precession
- Binary pulsar timing
Spacetime tests
- Light deflection
- Gravitational waves
- Time dilation in gravity