Comments On a Concept From General Relativity

Abstract

It is not widely known that the mass-energy equivalence of special relativity and the energy-momentum equations that describe geodesics in General Relativity constrain the form of the time component of the metric tensor. It is possible to satisfy the constraint by considering gravitational fields to be real, independent entities that possess field energy densities and including these as source terms in the Einstein field equations. In this approach, the spacetime metric becomes a function of the gravitational potential rather than having to describe both geometry and gravity. This prevents the formation of event horizons and can eliminate the need for a cosmological constant (aka "dark energy"). The gravitational potentials and field energies offer a path toward alleviating the incompatibility of quantum mechanics and General Relativity.