The stress-energy tensor of matter as a gravitational field source

This article discusses the hypothesis that the universally conserved stress-energy tensor of matter is the source of the gravitational field. From this hypothesis, it immediately follows that space-time must be Riemannian. In contrast to the general theory of relativity, in the gravitational theory based on this hypothesis, the concept of an inertial coordinate system, acceleration relative to space, and the laws of conservation of the energy and angular momenta are retained. In the framework of this theory, the gravitational field is a physical field. The theory explains all observable facts of the solar system, predicts the existence of a large hidden mass of matter in a homogeneous and isotropic universe, and assumes that such a universe can only be “flat.” The theory changes the established idea of the collapse of large massive bodies. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 110, No. 1, pp. 5–24, January, 1997.