Vol. 17 (2014) > lrr-2014-4

doi: 10.12942/lrr-2014-4
Living Rev. Relativity 17 (2014), 4

The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment

1 Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611

Full text: HTML | PDF (1886.0 Kb)

Article Abstract

The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analyzing them is reviewed and updated. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eötvös experiment, tests of local Lorentz invariance and clock experiments. Ongoing tests of EEP and of the inverse square law are searching 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 deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion, and frame-dragging. Gravitational wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to better than half a percent using the Hulse–Taylor binary pulsar, and a growing family of other binary pulsar systems is yielding new tests, especially of strong-field effects. Current and future tests of relativity will center on strong gravity and gravitational waves.

Keywords: Theories of gravity, Post-Newtonian limit, Gravitational radiation, Tests of relativistic gravity

Article Downloads

Article Format Size (Kb)
1886.0
1878.0
1722.2
References
BibTeX
RIS UTF-8 Latin-1
EndNote UTF-8 Latin-1
RDF+DC

Article Citation

Since a Living Reviews in Relativity article may evolve over time, please cite the access <date>, which uniquely identifies the version of the article you are referring to:

Clifford M. Will,
"The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment",
Living Rev. Relativity 17,  (2014),  4. URL (cited on <date>):
http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2014-4

Article History

ORIGINAL http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2001-4
Title The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
Author Clifford M. Will
Date accepted 25 January 2001, published 11 May 2001
UPDATE http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2006-3
Title The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
Author Clifford M. Will
Date accepted 27 February 2006, published 27 March 2006
Changes Updated article and references (added 143).
UPDATE http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2014-4
Title The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
Author Clifford M. Will
Date accepted 6 June 2014, published 11 June 2014
Changes Major revision, updated and expanded. Added new Section 2.3.3 on the Pioneer anomaly; split former Section 3 into new 3 and 4, and extended Section 3.3 on competing theories of gravity; added new Sections 5.3 and 5.4 on compact binary systems; added a new Section 8 on astrophysical and cosmological tests. The number of references increased from 299 to 454. Added two figures (8, 9) and updated Figures 1, 3, 5, and 7.
  • Bookmark this article:
  • bibsonomy
  • citeulike
  • delicious
  • digg
  • mendeley
Comment(s) on this article
 

Articles

References

19.250
Impact Factor 2014