How to Use general relativity in a Sentence

general relativity

noun
  • One way to make a black hole sort of look like the universe is to modify the equations of general relativity.
    — Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 1 Apr. 2025
  • From the perspective of cosmology, the Big Bang is the origin of space and time, at least from the point of view of Einstein’s general relativity.
    — Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2023
  • But black holes take their cues from general relativity, the theory that space and time form a bendy fabric and gravity is the fabric’s curves.
    — Quanta Magazine, 23 Aug. 2021
  • The difference is a consequence of general relativity, which shows that the flow of time is slowed by massive objects.
    — Becky Ferreira, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024
  • My test for that, actually, is: could [an AI] have come up with general relativity with the same amount of information that Einstein had in the 1900s?
    — Billy Perrigo, Time, 27 Apr. 2025
  • And because a black hole is just empty space (according to general relativity, infalling matter passes through the horizon but cannot linger), the parts of the black hole must be the parts of space itself.
    — George Musser, Scientific American, 8 May 2018
  • Dark energy does help the universe add up but only on the macro scale—the one that falls under the jurisdiction of general relativity.
    — Richard Panek, Scientific American, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Dark energy does help the universe add up but only on the macroscale—the one that falls under the jurisdiction of general relativity.
    — Richard Panek, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Then, in 1915, Einstein came up with the second part of his theory, known as general relativity.
    — Matthew Pillsbury, Travel, 28 Dec. 2020
  • If general relativity holds, then Delta should be equal to zero.
    — James Geach, Scientific American, 5 July 2018
  • According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, on the other hand, the orbiting clocks should tick faster than the ones on Earth, due to the difference in the strength of Earth’s gravity.
    — Priyamvada Natarajan, WSJ, 1 June 2018
  • While quantum physics treats space and time as immutable, general relativity warps them for breakfast.
    — Adam Becker, Scientific American, 20 Jan. 2022
  • Since the 1930s, physicists have toyed around with the idea of wormholes, which are consistent with Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
    — Meeri Kim, Slate Magazine, 28 July 2017
  • According to Einstein’s general relativity theory, these ripples travel at the speed of light, causing space itself to stretch and squeeze around them, kind of like a wave.
    — Jonathan Zrake, Discover Magazine, 5 Dec. 2024
  • That put him in the awkward position of having to undo the unification of time and space, a key achievement of Einstein’s general relativity.
    — Adam Frank, Discover Magazine, 12 July 2023
  • The researchers take their general relativity equations and solve them for many parameters of the signal.
    — Kat Friedrich, Popular Mechanics, 8 Sep. 2022
  • Starting from the description of spinning black holes in general relativity, called the Kerr metric, the group began to look for hints of conformal symmetry.
    — Thomas Lewton, Quanta Magazine, 8 Sep. 2022
  • Einstein’s theory of general relativity states that the gravity of a massive object — the cluster — bends space-time around it.
    — Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 27 June 2019
  • On one side is the Einstein who in 1915 conceived general relativity, which describes gravity as the warping of space-time by matter and energy.
    — Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Earlier this month, by carefully scrutinizing the shape of the shadow seen by the EHT, Özel and her colleagues made some of the most precise measurements of general relativity.
    — Daniel Garisto, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Such miniature atomic clocks could be sent all over the world to precisely map the Earth's gravitational field, or could be sent on aircraft or into space to test general relativity.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 28 Nov. 2016
  • Gödel pointed out to Einstein that the equations of general relativity appeared to allow time travel.
    — Steven Poole, WSJ, 1 June 2018
  • Albert Einstein predicted in 1916 that any moving object should create changes — or waves — in the fabric of space and time due to his theory of general relativity.
    — Brittany Trang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 30 June 2021
  • The laws of physics that govern this behavior are Einstein’s field equations for general relativity.
    — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 20 June 2024
  • Black holes are predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which describes the universe on the largest scale.
    — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 31 July 2024
  • Whereas quantum physics treats space and time as immutable, general relativity warps them for breakfast.
    — Adam Becker, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022
  • For instance, the station will use the world’s most precise clocks and coldest atoms to support fundamental research in general relativity and quantum physics.
    — Ling Xin, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2021
  • The story starts back in the 1960s, when four physicists wanted to better understand general relativity.
    — Katie McCormick, Quanta Magazine, 8 Dec. 2021
  • That's in opposition to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, which held that black holes could only grow.
    — Mike Snider, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • The other is to push closer to singularities in the hope that their extremes will help reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics in a theory of quantum gravity, which has been a goal of physicists for over a century.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Wired News, 20 Apr. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'general relativity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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