Testing General Relativity on the Largest Scales in the Years 1915-1955: the Dawning of Modern Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical development of testing general relativity on cosmic scales from 1915 to 1955, highlighting how early observations and models shaped modern cosmology.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive historical analysis of how observational tests and theoretical models of general relativity influenced the emergence of modern cosmology between 1915 and 1955.

Findings

Early tests supported Einstein’s theory

Observational evidence shifted cosmological paradigms

1950s debates advanced parameter estimation

Abstract

Soon after he proposed three classic observational tests for the general theory of relativity, Einstein realised that a consistent description of the universe as a whole provided another important challenge for the theory. In this essay, we recall how general relativity found important application in the nascent field of cosmology, from the static models of Einstein and de Sitter to the expanding cosmologies of Friedmann and Lemaitre. By the early 1930s, the first tentative astronomical evidence of cosmic expansion had trigged a paradigm shift to dynamic cosmologies, almost all of which were couched firmly within the framework of general relativity. However, further progress was impeded for some years by a paucity of observational data. In the 1950s, the debate between steady-state and big bang models of the universe provided a new stimulus for the quest to determine key parameters of relativistic models of the cosmos by astronomical observation, setting the stage for today's precision cosmology.