Testing General Relativity with Pulsar Timing

2003/07/30 by Ingrid H. Stairs, I. H. Stairs · 4 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.12942/lrr-2003-5

published as LivingRev.Rel.6:5,2003 · 60 pages, accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (see http://relativity.livingreviews.org). Version with high-resolution figures at http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/stairs/papers/sta03.ps.gz

arxiv created 2003/07/30 · openalex publication_date 2003/09/09 · arxiv updated 2015/06/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

Pulsars of very different types - isolated objects, and binaries with short- and long-period orbits, white-dwarf and neutron-star companions - provide the means to test both the predictions of general relativity and the viability of alternate theories of gravity. This article presents an overview of pulsars, then discusses the current status and future prospects of tests of equivalence principle violations and strong-field gravitational experiments.

Citations

• Small-eccentricity binary pulsars and relativistic gravity
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• New limits on the violation of the Strong Equivalence Principle in strong field regimes
• Neutron Star Mass Measurements. I. Radio Pulsars
• Determination of the Geometry of the PSR B1913+16 System by Geodetic Precession
• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• The Maximum Mass of Ideal White Dwarfs

Cited by

• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• A Massive Pulsar in a Compact Relativistic Binary
• Formation of Double Neutron Star Systems
• General relativity [wikipedia]