The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment

2005/10/31 by Clifford M. Will · 9 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #gr-qc

paper · pdf · doi:10.12942/lrr-2006-3

published as Living Rev.Rel.9:3,2005 · 89 pages, 8 figures; an update of the Living Review article originally published in 2001; final published version incorporating referees' suggestions

openalex publication_date 2006/03/27 · arxiv created 2006/04/04 · arxiv updated 2015/06/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analysing them is reviewed. Einstein's equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eotvos experiment, tests of special relativity, and the gravitational redshift experiment. Future 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, and the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion. 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 other binary pulsar systems have yielded other tests, especially of strong-field effects. When direct observation of gravitational radiation from astrophysical sources begins, new tests of general relativity will be possible.

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Cited by

• Gravitational lensing with f (χ) = χ3/2 gravity in accordance with astrophysical observations
• Shape and position of the shadow in the δ = 2 Tomimatsu–Sato spacetime
• Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts
• A Massive Pulsar in a Compact Relativistic Binary
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