Gravitational waves and the long relativity revolution

Abstract

The recent discovery of gravitational waves is often seen as the confirmation of a prediction Einstein made one century ago. We argue instead that only after conceptual advances in general relativity between the mid-1950s and the early 1960s could such a prediction be made on the basis of unambiguous notions shared by a community of specialists. The conceptual transformation and the reorganization of knowledge related to general relativity that characterized this post-Second World War period can be used to properly understand the hitherto vaguely defined ‘renaissance of general relativity’. During its first phase, theoreticians took a conservative turn by refocusing on general relativity, after previously having worked on other research agendas mostly targeted at substituting general relativity with a superior theory. This turn was followed by a second phase that was characterized by a plurality of approaches to general relativity, which had in common the fact that they were able to develop intrinsically (generally) relativistic concepts, in particular radiation, rather than using other theories as an interpretative crutch.