In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the field equations relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it. The equations, first published by Einstein in 1915, related the local spacetime curvature (expressed by the Einstein tensor) with the local energy, momentum, and stress within that spacetime. But what does any of this mean and why is it important to the principles of general relativity? Well, I hope this becomes apparent as you progress through this article. As always, you don’t need to know any jargon-y mathematics for this — we’ll take it a step at a time.
What???s inside a field researcher???s bag?
I was so incredibly lucky to be in my field site. I was living in the Amazon forest in a Kayapó village…a researcher’s dream!…