Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) is one of more than 80 research institutes of the Max Planck Society. The Institute was established to pursue research in gravitational physics, especially general relativity and quantum gravity. General relativity is the theory of gravity devised by Albert Einstein (picture: 1929 by Lotte Jacobi); its many successful predictions concerning black holes, gravitational waves, gravitational lensing, and the Big Bang have made it a standard tool of astronomers in their attempts to describe the observed universe. Much work in theoretical physics today is directed at generalizing this theory to include the quantum effects that are known to be necessary to describe elementary particles, and which are believed to be necessary as well to describe the inside of a black hole and the details of the Big Bang. The aim is to develop a quantum theory of gravity that goes beyond general relativity and explains the relationship between gravity and the other forces of physics, such as electromagnetism and the nuclear force.