Learn about the 6 most common types of gravitation theories including Newtonian Gravity, General Relativity, TeVeS, and more. Discover their strengths and weaknesses.

5 Most Common Types of Gravitation Theories

Gravity is the force that governs the motion of celestial bodies and is the foundation of the science of astrophysics. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature, alongside the strong and weak nuclear forces and the electromagnetic force. There are several theories of gravitation that attempt to explain the fundamental nature of this force. Here are the 5 most common types of gravitation theories.

1. Newtonian Gravity

Isaac Newton was the first scientist to propose a theory of gravitation, which he published in his book “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica” in 1687. According to this theory, gravity is a force that acts instantaneously at a distance, pulling objects towards each other. Newtonian gravity works well for most everyday situations, but it breaks down when describing the behavior of objects at extremely high speeds or in strong gravitational fields.

2. General Relativity

General relativity is a theory of gravitation proposed by Albert Einstein in 1915. According to this theory, gravity is not a force but instead is the curvature of spacetime caused by the presence of mass or energy. In other words, objects with mass warp the fabric of spacetime, and other objects move along the curvature created by the mass. General relativity is incredibly accurate, and its predictions have been confirmed by numerous experiments.

3. Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND)

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is a theory that was proposed in the 1980s by Israeli physicist Mordehai Milgrom. According to this theory, the behavior of objects in the universe can be explained without the need for dark matter by modifying Newton’s laws of motion. MOND proposes that gravity becomes stronger at extremely low accelerations, which can account for the observed motion of stars in galaxies without the need for dark matter.

4. Brans-Dicke Theory

Brans-Dicke theory is an alternative theory of gravitation proposed in the 1960s by Carl Brans and Robert Dicke. This theory proposes that gravity is not a fundamental force, but instead arises from the interaction between matter and a scalar field called the Brans-Dicke