The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment: a 1998 Update
نویسنده
چکیده
The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analysing them are reviewed. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eötvös experiment, tests of special relativity, and the gravitational redshift experiment. Future tests of EEP will search for new interactions arising from unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity have reached high precision, including the light deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, and the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion. Gravitational wave damping has been detected to half a percent using the binary pulsar, and new binary pulsar systems promise further improvements. When direct observation of gravitational radiation from astrophysical sources begins, new tests of general relativity will be possible. ∗Support in part by NSF Grant 96-00049 c © 1998 by Clifford M. Will.
منابع مشابه
General Relativity and Experiment *
The confrontation between Einstein’s theory of gravitation and experiment is summarized. Although all current experimental data are compatible with General Relativity, the importance of pursuing the quest for possible deviations from Einstein’s theory is emphasized. ∗To appear in the Proceedings of the XIth International Congress of Mathematical Physics (Paris,July 1994)
متن کاملGravitation, Experiment and Cosmology *
The confrontation between general relativity (and its theoretically most plausible deviations) and experimental or observational results is summarized. Some discussion is devoted to the various methodologies used in confronting theory and experiment. Both weak-field (solar system) and strong-field (binary pulsar) tests are discussed in detail. A special discussion is devoted to the cosmology of...
متن کاملThe Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analysing them are reviewed. Einstein's equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eötvös experiment, tests of special relativity, and the gravitational redshift experiment. Future tests of EEP and of the inverse square law will search for new interactions arising from unificat...
متن کاملWas Einstein 100% Right ? *
The confrontation between General Relativity and experimental results, notably binary pulsar data, is summarized and its significance discussed. The agreement between experiment and theory is numerically very impressive. However, some recent theoretical findings (existence of non-perturbative strong-field effects, natural cosmological attraction toward zero scalar couplings) suggest that the pr...
متن کاملBulk Viscous Bianchi Type VI0 Cosmological Model in the Self-creation Theory of Gravitation and in the General Theory of Relativity
In the second self-creation theory of gravitation and in the general theory of relativity, Bianchi type VI0 cosmological model in the presence of viscous fluid is studied. An exact solution of the field equations is given by considering the cosmological model yields a constant decelerations parameter q=constant and the coefficients of the metric are taken as A(t)=[c1t+c<su...
متن کامل