Physicists of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration proved general theory of relativity (GR), limiting the range of alternative theories of gravity by a factor of hundreds. This was achieved when analyzing the world's first image, which captures the shadow of the black hole M87 – a dark area surrounded by a ring of light. The confirmation of Einstein's correctness was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
Scientists assume that the theory that best describes gravity will be slightly different from general relativity, but there are limitations on possible modifications. However, the researchers found that when the question concerns black holes, the complete theory cannot be significantly different from general relativity. The size of the black hole's shadow in the photograph taken as part of the Event Horizon Telescope project was consistent with the predictions of Einstein's theory.
The group of researchers conducted extensive analysis of many modifications of general relativity in order to determine those parameters of the theory of gravity that determine the size of the black hole's shadow. Until now, many of the versions of the theory have been confirmed by observing objects in the solar system, but modeling the image of M87 and comparison with a real image allowed us to narrow their range by a factor of 500.
Astronomers expect more detailed images of the black hole's shadow to be obtained in the future using more telescopes around the world.
