This object is non-degenerate on a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, which relaxes the requirement that this object be positive-definite on a Riemannian manifold. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this mathematical object that, in Minkowski space, is represented by either “minus, plus, plus, plus” or “plus, minus, minus, minus.”
ANSWER: metric tensor [accept metric signature; prompt on g]
[10m] This quantity symbolized lambda multiplies the metric tensor in the Einstein field equations. This quantity equals zero if the universe expands at a fixed rate.
ANSWER: cosmological constant
[10e] Einstein initially removed the cosmological constant from this theory governed by the Einstein field equations, which describes how spacetime curves as a result of masses.
ANSWER: general relativity [or GR; prompt on relativity]
<Physics>