Apsidal Precession - General Relativity

General Relativity

An apsidal precession of the planet Mercury was noted by Urbain Le Verrier in the mid-19th century and accounted for by Einstein's theory of general relativity. To first approximation, this theory adds a central force that varies as the inverse fourth power of the distance.

Read more about this topic:  Apsidal Precession

Famous quotes containing the words general and/or relativity:

    It was the words “descended into Hades”
    That seemed too pagan to our liberal youth.
    You know they suffered from a general onslaught.
    And well, if they weren’t true why keep right on
    Saying them like the heathen? We could drop them.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, to-day in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be regarded as a bĂȘte noire the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English!
    Albert Einstein (1879–1955)