Gravity: after Einstein, is it really a force?

Phenylflux
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I'm not a great scientist or math guru, I was in the naval nuclear power program and only pursue physics as a hobby. My question is this: according to Einstein gravity results from the curvature of space. If that is so wouldn't it be reasonable to say that gravity is an effect resulting from the curvature of space? Just like centrifugal force isn't really a force at all, but an APPARENT force resulting from the laws of inertia? If that is correct, why try to unify gravity with the other three forces? We don't try to unify centrifugal force with them, or am I way off base? Any replies would be appreciated.
 
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Phenylflux said:
I'm not a great scientist or math guru, I was in the naval nuclear power program and only pursue physics as a hobby. My question is this: according to Einstein gravity results from the curvature of space. If that is so wouldn't it be reasonable to say that gravity is an effect resulting from the curvature of space? Just like centrifugal force isn't really a force at all, but an APPARENT force resulting from the laws of inertia? If that is correct, why try to unify gravity with the other three forces? We don't try to unify centrifugal force with them, or am I way off base? Any replies would be appreciated.

You are right about the GR picture of gravitation as an apparent force. However, unifying gravitation with the other three forces really comes down to reconciling GR and quantum mechanics. You may be interested in this recent thread.
 
Thank you for the clarification I will check out the thread
 
New question: with m theory they look to higher dimensions to be able to include gravity. With relativity relying on four dimensional coordination, if we do discover an additional dimension, how will that impact the relativistic equations?
 
Thread 'Can this experiment break Lorentz symmetry?'

Thread 'Can this experiment break Lorentz symmetry?'

1. The Big Idea: According to Einstein’s relativity, all motion is relative. You can’t tell if you’re moving at a constant velocity without looking outside. But what if there is a universal “rest frame” (like the old idea of the “ether”)? This experiment tries to find out by looking for tiny, directional differences in how objects move inside a sealed box. 2. How It Works: The Two-Stage Process Imagine a perfectly isolated spacecraft (our lab) moving through space at some unknown speed V...
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Thread 'Relativator (Circular Slide-Rule): Simulated with Desmos - Insight'

Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. The Relativator was sold by (as printed) Atomic Laboratories, Inc. 3086 Claremont Ave, Berkeley 5, California , which seems to be a division of Cenco Instruments (Central Scientific Company)... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/relativator-circular-slide-rule-simulated-with-desmos/ by @robphy
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Thread 'A sufficient condition for integrability of equation ##\nabla g=0##'

In Philippe G. Ciarlet's book 'An introduction to differential geometry', He gives the integrability conditions of the differential equations like this: $$ \partial_{i} F_{lj}=L^p_{ij} F_{lp},\,\,\,F_{ij}(x_0)=F^0_{ij}. $$ The integrability conditions for the existence of a global solution ##F_{lj}## is: $$ R^i_{jkl}\equiv\partial_k L^i_{jl}-\partial_l L^i_{jk}+L^h_{jl} L^i_{hk}-L^h_{jk} L^i_{hl}=0 $$ Then from the equation: $$\nabla_b e_a= \Gamma^c_{ab} e_c$$ Using cartesian basis ## e_I...
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