Abstract
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 unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity at the post-Newtonian level have reached high precision, including the light defl ection the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, and the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion. Gravitational wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to half a percent using the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, and new binary pulsar systems may yield further improvements. When direct observation of gravitational radiation from astrophysical sources begins, new tests of general relativity will be possible.
Highlights
At the time of the birth of general relativity (GR), experimental confirmation was almost a side issue
Among the testable violations of strong equivalence principle (SEP) are a violation of the weak equivalence principle for gravitating bodies that leads to perturbations in the Earth-Moon orbit; preferred-location and preferred-frame effects in the locally measured gravitational constant that could produce observable geophysical effects; and possible variations in the gravitational constant over cosmological timescales
In a pioneering calculation using his early form of the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism, Nordtvedt [97] showed that many metric theories of gravity predict that massive bodies violate the weak equivalence principle – that is, fall with different accelerations depending on their gravitational self-energy
Summary
At the time of the birth of general relativity (GR), experimental confirmation was almost a side issue. The Genesis (1887–1919) comprises the period of the two great experiments which were the foundation of relativistic physics – the Michelson-Morley experiment and the Eotvos experiment – and the two immediate confirmations of GR – the deflection of light and the perihelion advance of Mercury Following this was a period of Hibernation (1920–1960) during which theoretical work temporarily outstripped technology and experimental possibilities, and, as a consequence, the field stagnated and was relegated to the backwaters of physics and astronomy. Astrophysical observations and gravitational wave detectors are being planned to explore and test GR in the strong-field, highly-dynamical regime associated with the formation and dynamics of these objects. In this Living Review, we shall survey the theoretical frameworks for studying experimental gravitation, summarize the current status of experiments, and attempt to chart the future of the subject. References to TEGP will be by chapter or section, e.g. “TEGP 8.9 [147]”
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