STRONG-FIELD TESTS OF RELATIVISTIC GRAVITY WITH PULSARS

Author(s):  
Michael Kramer
1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1840-1868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Damour ◽  
J. H. Taylor

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 2755-2760
Author(s):  
CHRIS DONE

Accretion onto a black hole transforms the darkest objects in the universe to the brightest. The high energy radiation emitted from the accretion flow before it disappears forever below the event horizon lights up the regions of strong spacetime curvature close to the black hole, enabling strong field tests of General Relativity. I review the observational constraints on strong gravity from such accretion flows, and show how the data strongly support the existence of such fundamental General Relativistic features of a last stable orbit and the event horizon. However, these successes also imply that gravity does not differ significantly from Einstein's predictions above the event horizon, so any new theory of quantum gravity will be very difficult to test.


2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Sakstein ◽  
Eugeny Babichev ◽  
Kazuya Koyama ◽  
David Langlois ◽  
Ryo Saito

Until now, most experiments have succeeded in testing relativistic gravity only in its extreme weak-field limit. Because of the strong self-gravity of neutron stars, observations of pulsars in binary systems provide a unique opportunity for probing the strong-field régime of relativistic gravity. The two basic approaches to using binary pulsar measurements as probes of relativistic gravity are reviewed: the phenomenological (‘parametrized post-keplerian’ formalism) and the alternative-theory approach (multidimensional space of possible theories). The experimental constraints recently derived from the actual timing observations of three binary pulsars are summarized. General relativity passes these new, strong-field tests with complete success.


1979 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 401-404
Author(s):  
B. Paczyński ◽  
V. Trimble

There is a reasonable chance of finding a (probably X-ray) pulsar in a short-period orbit around the galactic center. Such a pulsar can provide a test distinguishing a central black hole from a supermassive object or spinar. It also makes available a good clock in a region of space in which GM/Rc2 is much larger than solar system values, thus allowing strong-field tests of general relativity.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S248) ◽  
pp. 164-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Taylor

AbstractThe SKA is a global project to plan and construct the next-generation international radio telescope operating at metre to cm wavelengths. More than 50 institutes in 19 countries are involved in its development. The SKA will be an interferometric array with a collecting area of up to one million square metres and maximum baseline of at least 3000 km. The SKA reference design includes field-of-view expansion technology that will allow instantaneous imaging of up to several tens of degrees. The SKA is being designed to address fundamental questions in cosmology, physics and astronomy. The key science goals range from the epoch or re-ionization, dark energy, the formation and evolution of galaxies and large-scale structure, the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism, strong-field tests of gravity and gravity wave detection, the cradle of life, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The sensitivity, field-of-view and angular resolution of the SKA will make possible a program to create a multi-epoch data base of wide-angle relative astrometry to a few μas precision for ~10,000,000 radio sources with S > 10 μJy.


2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 34-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kramer ◽  
I.H. Stairs ◽  
R.N. Manchester ◽  
M.A. McLaughlin ◽  
A.G. Lyne ◽  
...  

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