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Vectronix
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Is there a potential quantity in general relativity, analogous to Newton's theory of gravitation? I am not too familiar with GR, so I thought I'd ask.
Shouldn't curvature also not be weak to do this? So,atyy said:In GR, the gravitational field is the metric field, which is a tensor field.
In a class of spacetimes called "static", the metric can be written in terms of a scalar field which is analogous to the Newtonian potential.
Gravitational potential is a measure of the amount of energy that an object has due to its position in a gravitational field. It is the potential energy per unit mass of an object at a certain point in a gravitational field, and is measured in units of energy per unit mass (such as joules per kilogram).
In general relativity, gravitational potential is one of the key components of the theory. It is used to describe how matter and energy affect the curvature of spacetime, which in turn determines the motion of objects in a gravitational field. This allows general relativity to explain the effects of gravity on a larger scale, such as the motion of planets and galaxies.
Gravitational potential and gravitational potential energy are closely related concepts, but they are not the same thing. Gravitational potential is a measure of the energy per unit mass at a certain point in a gravitational field, whereas gravitational potential energy is the total energy that an object has due to its position in a gravitational field. In other words, gravitational potential is a property of the field itself, while gravitational potential energy is a property of the object within the field.
Gravitational potential can be calculated using the equation V = -GM/r, where V is the gravitational potential, G is the universal gravitational constant, M is the mass of the object producing the gravitational field, and r is the distance from the object to the point where the potential is being measured. This equation assumes a spherically symmetric mass distribution, and can be used to calculate the potential at any point in the field.
Yes, gravitational potential can be negative. This is because gravitational potential is a relative quantity, meaning it is measured relative to a certain reference point. If the reference point is chosen to be at infinity, then the potential at any point closer to the object will be negative. This negative potential represents a decrease in the potential energy of an object as it moves closer to the source of the gravitational field.