History of Relativistic Gravity

In General > s.a. general relativity / mach's principle; tests of general relativity; tests with orbiting bodies.
* Einstein: Einstein arrived at his field equations for gravitation partly by a physical strategy including the Newtonian limit, the electromagnetic analogy, and energy conservation; He first found them in 1913, but he initially thought they must be wrong, because of the hole argument and because of some incorrect calculations on the Newtonian limit; He settled on the field equations, and checked that they gave the correct perihelion advance for Mercury, during a series of four weekly lectures to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin culminating in the final lecture of November 25, 2015.
* Early work: The first few decades saw calculations of the simplest physical consequences, like propagation of light, correction to planet orbits, simple cosmologies; The formulation in terms of modern differential geometry came with @ Lichnerowicz 55.
* Lie group methods: Introduced into cosmology by Gödel (> see gödel solution) and Taub (> see Taub-NUT solution).
* 1980s: Links were developed with astrophysics, gauge theory, particle physics; General relativity became a more balanced (but also chaotic) field, and more confidence in the classical theory made it less necessary to look for alternatives before quantizing.
@ General references: Mehra 74; Chandrasekhar AJP(79)mar; Torretti 83; Hickman IJTP(84) [and electrodynamics]; Pyenson 85; Stachel in(86); Glick ed-87; Ray 87; Bergmann in(89); Howard & Stachel ed-89; Eisenstaedt & Kox ed-92; Earman et al 93; Hu HSPBS(04) [criticism in China]; Kox & Eisenstaedt ed-05; Dadhich phy/05 [and the future]; Crelinsten 06; Eisenstaedt 06; Renn 07; Ellis in-a1509, news sn(15)oct [100 years]; Goenner GRG(17)-a1607 [remarks]; Dadhich fs(17)-a1609; Debono & Smoot Univ(16)-a1609 [status and future directions]; Ni ch(16)-a1612; Kiefer a1812-conf [62 years after GR0, Bern 1955]; Bodziony a1901; Blum & Brill a1905-in [Wheeler's contribution]; Petkov ed-20.
@ After 1915: Schutz in(12)-a1203 [isolation during the 1930s-1950s and subsequent reinvigoration]; Ashtekar GRG(14)-a1312 [advances 1962-2013]; Wazeck 14 [1920s opposition]; Will APS(15) [re centennial]; Trimble a1711, a1807 [the impact of World War I]; Lalli 17 [cold war, 1955-1974].
@ Dynamics: Logunov et al PU(04)phy [field equations]; Ostermann gq/04 [variational principle]; Ebner phy/06 [Hilbert's derivation of the field equation]; Choquet-Bruhat a1410 [Cauchy problem, early work]; Deser PS(15)-a1501, a2103 [ADM formulation]; Choquet-Bruhat CQG+(15) [initial-value formulation].
@ Differing views: Coleman phy/05 [Synge on Whitehead's 1922 Principle of Relativity], a0704 [Whitehead's theory]; Arciniega PT(19)jul [Einstein-Graef debate].
@ Quantum gravity: Rüger HSPS(88) [quantum spacetime]; Gorelik in(92); Rovelli gq/00-MG9; DeWitt GRG(09)-a0805; Misner GRG(09) [Wheeler]; Gorelik PU(05) + webpage [Bronstein]; Rocci JPCS(13)-a1309 [first speculations, 1916-1930]; Pullin CQG(15)-a1505 [the ADM papers and loop quantum gravity]; Peruzzi & Rocci EPJH(18)-a1802 [Léon Rosenfeld]; Salisbury a1909-in [Syracuse 1949-1962]; > s.a. history of quantum theory [field theory in curved spacetime].
@ Conceptual: Renn Isis(04) [and historical epistemology]; Lombardi in(07)-a0705 [and conception of reality].
@ Specific topics: Halpern 04 [higher dimensions]; Ravndal a1309 [5th dimension]; Pitts SHPMP(16)-a1604 [Einstein, symmetries, conservation laws, and particle physics], a1909-proc [insights from particle physics]; > s.a. kerr metric; singularities.
> Online resources: see St-Andrews University page; Perimeter Institute June 2015 lecture by Jürgen Renn.

Milestones [@ see Will CQG(15)] > s.a. history of relativistic cosmology.
* 1859: Precursor, Le Verrier discovers the Mercury perihelion advance anomaly.
* 1870: Precursor, Clifford tried to show that matter curves space with an observation on light polarization.
* 1915: Publication of Einstein's paper on general relativity.
* 1919: Measurement of the deflection of light by the Sun [@ Will CQG(15)-a1409].
* 1929: Hubble's observation of the expansion of the universe [@ MacCallum CQG(15)].
* 1952: Yvonne Choquet-Brouhat's work on the initial value problem [@ Ringström CQG(15)].
* 1955: The Bern conference that later became known as GR0.
* 1959: The Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) paper [@ Pullin CQG(15)].
* 1963: The Wheeler-DeWitt equation [@ Rovelli CQG(15)]; The Kerr metric [@ Teukolsky CQG(15)].
* 1965: Discovery of the cosmic background radiation [@ Durrer CQG(15)]; The singularity theorems [@ Senovilla & Garfinkle CQG(15)].
* 1970: Joe Weber's 'announcement' of gravitational-wave detection.
* 1973: First developments in black-hole thermodynamics.
* 1974: Discovery of the binary pulsar by Hulse & Taylor [@ Damour CQG(15)].
* 1997: Einstein/Hilbert paternity suit settled by paper proofs [@ Corry et al Sci(97)nov]; Frame dragging observation [@ news pn(97)nov].
* 1998: The AdS/CFT correspondence [@ Hubeny CQG(15)].
* 2000: The interferometric gravitational wave detectors began their runs to accumulate data.
* 2005: Numerical relativity breakthrough for binary black holes [@ Sperhake CQG(15)].
* 2016: LIGO announces the first direct detections of gravitational waves; MICROSCOPE satellite launched; LISA Pathfinder demonstrates key technologies.
* 2019: First (radio) image of a black hole, the core of M87, released.

Specific People, Places and Events
@ Places, events: Almassi SHPMP(09) [Eddington's expedition and British acceptance]; Gangui & Ortiz RBHC-a1203 [Argentina in the 1920s]; Janis GRG(11) [Syracuse in the mid-1950s]; van Besouw & van Dongen a1311-fs [reception in the Netherlands]; Dadhich CS-a1511 [post-independence India]; Goenner EPJH(17)-a1607 [Germany from 1915 to the 1990s]; Robinson a1811 [King's College London 1955-1980]; Kiefer a1812 [GR0, Bern 1955]; ten Hagen a2002 [Belgium, 1910s and 1920s].
@ Precursors: Galindo & Cervantes-Cota RMF-a1807 [Clifford's gravitation hypothesis]; Anjum & Mishra a2011 [early history].
@ Einstein: Sauer AHES(99)phy/98 [Einstein-Hilbert question]; Sauer phy/04 [Einstein 1916]; Todorov talk-phy/05 [Einstein & Hilbert]; Schücking a0903 [Einstein's first principle of equivalence, 1907]; Straumann AdP(11)-a1106 [Einstein's "Zürich notebook"]; Weinstein a1201, a1201, a1201 [from the 1914 Einstein-Grossmann theory to Einstein's 1916 general relativity]; Weinstein a1202 [Einstein's 1912-1913 struggles]; Weinstein a1202 [Einstein and Levi-Civita, 1914]; Weinstein a1204 [Grossmann's help, 1912-1914]; Giulini a1306-conf [Einstein's "Prague field equation"]; Weinstein a1310 [and the conservation of energy-momentum]; Weinstein a1310 [Einstein's 1916 derivation of the field equations]; Betancort-Rijo & Jiménez a1410 [Einstein's first field equation]; Weinstein a1411 [Einstein and Schwarzschild, 1915-1916]; Weinstein a1412 [and Hilbert]; Janssen & Renn PT(15)nov; Weinstein a1511 [the two-body problem as a heuristic guide for other work]; Smolin a1512; Walters a1608; Dieks a1801 [intuition and derivations]; Lehmkuhl SHPMP(17)-a1803 [the problem of motion]; Peruzzi & Rocci a1811 [Kaluza-Klein higher-dimensional models]; Weinstein a1904 [the November tensor, 1912 to 1915]; > s.a. equivalence principle.
@ Other personal contributions: Deser IJMPA(04)gq/03 [Dirac]; Brading & Ryckman SHPMP(08) [Hilbert's axiomatic approach]; Rindler AJP(09)jun [Gödel's solution and implications]; Sauer a1312-MG13 [Marcel Grossmann]; Milton CJP(14)-a1312 [Julian Schwinger]; Di Mauro et al a2102 [Feynman].

Other Theories of Gravity > s.a. Scalar Theory; scalar-tensor theories; unimodular gravity.
@ References: Norton AHES(92) [general relativity and Nordström's scalar theory]; Pitts a1906-in [cosmological constant vs massive gravitons].

Tests and Phenomenology > s.a. cosmology; kaluza-klein theory; pulsars.
@ General references: Peebles EPJH(16)-a1603 [Robert Dicke].
@ Gravitational waves: Collins HSPBS(03) [LIGO]; Saulson GRG(11) [physical reality]; Kennefick a1407-conf [role of the binary pulsar]; Berti Phy(16) [background to first detection]; Weinstein a1602 [Einstein in 1916-1918]; Holst et al BAMS-a1607 [historical overview of gravitational-wave science]; Cervantes-Cota et al Univ(16)-a1609; Chen et al ChJP(17)-a1610; news forbes(17)mar [physical reality, Feynman and the sticky bead argument]; Salisbury a1910 [Trautman and Robinson, and equations of motion]; Bonolis & León a2003-ch; > s.a. gravitational-wave detection.
@ Black holes: Miller 05; Baumgarte AIP(06)ap, Carter AIP(06)gq; Kundt GRG(09)-a0905; Trimble a1411-IAU [early quest]; blog pt(15)sep [thermodynamics and information]; Ortega-Rodríguez et al PiP(17)-a1703 [J Robert Oppenheimer]; Herdeiro & Lemos a1811 [genesis of the name]; news sn(19)apr [timeline]; Lemos et al a1911 [and gravitational waves]; Weinstein a2102 [black hole thermodynamics]; > s.a. schwarzschild black hole.
@ 1919 eclipse and light deflection: Coles ASP-ap/01; Kennefick a0709-proc, PT(09)mar; Will CQG(15)-a1409; Crispino & Kennefick nPhys(19)-a1907; Lemos RBEF-a1912; Cervantes-Cota et al Univ-a1912; Lemos et al a1912; Crispino IJMPD-a2004, Crispino & Paolantonio nAstr-a2004 [the 1912 attempt]; Gilmore & Tausch-Pebody RSNR(20)-a2010.
@ Other phenomenology: Pfister GRG(07) [Lense-Thirring effect]; > s.a. gravitational lensing.

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