Abstract
Unlike Newtonian mechanics, Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity predicts that the Sun causes the space around it to curve. As a result, a light ray passing near the solar limb will be deflected by twice the amount predicted by Newtonian theory. As John Archibald Wheeler put it, “space-time geometry tells mass-energy how to move and mass-energy tells space-time geometry how to curve.” This chapter reviews the experimental verification of light deflection, from an early eclipse expedition in 1919 to more recent measurements using interplanetary spacecraft and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). It turns out that the Einstein prediction is correct to within a realistic standard error of about 26 parts per million.
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Anderson, J.D., Lau, E.L. (2010). Measurements of Space Curvature by Solar Mass. In: Ciufolini, I., Matzner, R. (eds) General Relativity and John Archibald Wheeler. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 367. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3735-0_7
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