Folha: 'Who invented relativistic gravity?'
Albert Einstein e David Hilbert
Reduction of Marcelo Viana's column in Folha de S. Paulo
The creation of the Theory of Relativity in 1905 made Albert Einstein (1879–1955) one of the most famous scientists in the world. But he knew that his discovery was incompatible with Isaac Newton 's (1643–1727) classical theory of gravitation: in Newtonian theory, gravitational attraction acts instantaneously at a distance, but, according to the Theory of Relativity, nothing moves faster than light.
Another point of contention is that the principle of relativity, which Einstein formulated in 1905, states that the laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion. Now, he believes that the same applies to all observers, without exception, regardless of their relative motion.
In 1912, he already understood that the two points – reconciling gravitation with relativity and formulating the laws of physics in a completely invariant way – are directly related: each must be part of the solution to the other. But the mathematics to implement this idea is very complex, and progress is slow.
In 1915, he learned that his compatriot David Hilbert (1862–1943), the greatest mathematician of his time, was also seeking a completely invariant formulation of gravitation. The competition intensified Einstein's efforts to find the solution. We know that Hilbert invited him to lecture on his work at the University of Göttingen in the middle of the year, and that the two corresponded intensely over the following months.
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Finally, on November 25th, Einstein submitted the article "The Field Equations of Gravitation" for publication, containing the definitive formulation of relativistic gravitation. But he did not explain how he obtained the formula… Well, five days earlier Hilbert had given a lecture in Göttingen about his own progress in this direction, and Einstein would have had access to the respective text, "The Foundations of Physics," around the 18th.
Did Einstein use Hilbert's work without citing him, quickly publishing his own article to secure priority? Who actually formulated the Theory of General Relativity first? The debate between proponents of one and the other is open.
The controversy reignited in the 1990s with the discovery of the original draft of Hilbert's work. In a 1997 article in the journal "Science," L. Corry, J. Renn, and J. Stachel pointed out that Hilbert revised the text before publication, meaning that the version Einstein received may not have contained the correct version of the gravitational equation. Although it is impossible to be certain, because part of the original draft was lost, they note that Hilbert himself never questioned Einstein's primacy and even nominated his colleague for the Bolyai Prize "for the high mathematical spirit behind all his achievements."