A basic postulate of general relativity stating that it is impossible to distinguish locally between a gravitational field and an accelerating reference frame.
core principle of general relativity declaring the indistinguishability of accelerated motion and immersion in a gravitational field (over small enough regions of observation). Generalizes the principle of relativity by showing that all observers, regardless of their state of motion, can claim to be at rest, so long as they acknowledge the presence of a suitable gravitational field.
Einstein's declaration that a gravitational force cannot be distinguished from an inertial force; hence a gravitational field can be replaced by an accelerated system.
(physics) the principle that an observer has no way of distinguishing whether his laboratory is in a uniform gravitational field or is in an accelerated frame of reference
Principle that a gravitational force and a suitable acceleration are indistinguishable within a sufficiently local environment.
The statement that the effects of gravity and acceleration are indistinguishable in a sufficiently small reference frame. The principle of equivalence is at the heart of general relativity's identification of gravity with the geometry of spacetime.
experiments performed in a uniformly accelerating reference frame, having a given acceleration with respect to an inertial frame, give exactly the same results as the identical experiments carried out in an inertial frame containing a uniform gravitational field