Keyboard graph navigation: press N for concepts or E for relations; use arrow keys, Home, and End to move; Enter selects; Shift plus Enter selects and centers; plus and minus zoom; zero fits; Escape clears the selection. Use the visible viewport buttons as alternatives to dragging, wheel, and pinch gestures.
Canonical static concept record
Open this concept in the interactive graphRead the Markdown equivalent
A mathematically expressed, empirically constrained framework that represents classes of physical systems and predicts relations among measurable quantities.
Theories supply models and predictions within tested regimes; they are not logical consequences of their mathematical formalism alone.
wp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theorycern-standard-modeleinstein-general-relativityEach relation below ends at this concept.
This is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
A physical theory contains or entails laws within its stated domain.
The source supplies a substantive formal ingredient, dynamical sector, law, field content, or mechanism of the target theoretical framework.
wp-physics-physical_lawwp-physics-physical_theoryEach relation below starts at this concept.
This is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
Classical field theory describes continuous fields on spacetime without quantizing their dynamical degrees of freedom.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
cern-qft-introeinstein-spacetimewp-physics-classical_field_theorynlab-physics-classical_field_theorywp-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
Classical mechanics is a physical theory for regimes in which quantum, relativistic, and strong-gravity corrections are negligible.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
cambridge-classical-dynamicseinstein-special-relativitynist-quantum-theorywp-physics-classical_mechanicsnlab-physics-classical_mechanicsThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
Physical theories often admit descriptions specialized to a scale or regime.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
wp-physics-effective_descriptionburgess-eftwp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
General relativity is the classical geometric theory of gravitation.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
einstein-general-relativitywp-physics-general_relativitynlab-physics-general_relativitywp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
A physical model selects a system, degrees of freedom, parameters, boundary or initial data, and often idealizations within or motivated by a theory; not every model is a controlled approximation.
The target is a model, idealization, restricted ansatz, approximation scheme, phenomenological fit, or historical representation used for the source system or theory. It need not have a universal small error parameter and is not thereby a controlled limit or effective theory. The edge label and detail must identify the precise status.
wp-physics-physical_modelwp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
The validity and useful variables of a physical theory depend on physical scales.
The target represents a state, property, observable, or state-dependent description associated with the source system or theory.
wp-physics-physical_scalewp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
Quantum mechanics specializes physical theory to systems requiring quantum states, amplitudes, and probabilistic measurement rules.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
nist-quantum-theorywp-physics-quantum_mechanicsnlab-physics-quantum_mechanicswp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theoryThis is an authored directed relation from the source endpoint to the target endpoint.
Special relativity specializes physical theory to nongravitational laws compatible with Lorentz symmetry.
A more specific theory, model, entity class, or regime is obtained by restricting or extending the scope of a broader framework.
einstein-special-relativitywp-physics-special_relativitynlab-physics-special_relativitywp-physics-physical_theorynlab-physics-physical_theory