Related papers: Strong Binary Pulsar Constraints on Lorentz Violat…
We study a theory where the presence of an extra spin-two field coupled to gravity gives rise to a phase with spontaneously broken Lorentz symmetry. In this phase gravity is massive, and the Weak Equivalence Principle is respected. The…
Tiny violations of the Lorentz symmetry of relativity and the associated discrete CPT symmetry could emerge in a consistent theory of quantum gravity such as string theory. Recent evidence for linear polarization in gamma-ray bursts…
Modern experiments on neutron and allowed nuclear $\beta$ decay search for new semileptonic interactions, beyond the ``left-handed'' electroweak force. We show that ongoing and planned $\beta$-decay experiments, with isotopes at rest and in…
Lorentz violations in gravitational waves are investigated. Plane-wave solutions for arbitrary gauge-invariant violations in linearized gravity are constructed. Signatures of Lorentz violation include dispersion, birefringence, and…
This thesis focuses on the study of binary radio pulsars, their evolution and some specific use of their properties to investigate fundamental physics such as general relativity and other gravitational theories. The work that we present…
Gravity being a long-range force, one might {\it a priori} expect the Universe's global matter distribution to select a preferred rest frame for local gravitational physics. The phenomenology of preferred-frame effects, in the…
We compute the scalar gravitational radiation from a binary pulsar system in the simplest model that exhibits the Vainshtein mechanism. The mechanism is successful in screening the effect from scalar fields conformally coupled to matter,…
The possibility that Lorentz symmetry is violated in gravitational processes is relatively unconstrained by experiment, in stark contrast with the level of accuracy to which Lorentz symmetry has been confirmed in the matter sector. One…
The recent gravitational wave observations provide insight into the extreme gravity regime of coalescing binaries, where gravity is strong, dynamical and non-linear. The interpretation of these observations relies on the comparison of the…
Lorentz symmetry is an important concept in modern physics. Precision pulsar timing was used to put tight constraints on the coefficients for Lorentz violation in the pure-gravity sector of the Standard-Model Extension (SME). We extend the…
We constrain Einstein-aether gravity -- a Lorentz-violating extension of General Relativity in which a dynamical, unit timelike vector field selects a preferred frame -- using updated high-precision pulsar timing observations of PSR…
The values of the bending delays in the signal of a radio pulsar in a binary with a stellar mass black hole as a companion have been calculated accurately within a full general relativistic framework considering the Schwarzchid spacetime…
Einstein's theory of General Relativity is one of the pillars of modern physics. For decades, the theory has been mainly tested in the weak field regime with experiments in the Solar System and observations of binary pulsars. Thanks to a…
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 E\"otv\"os experiment, tests of…
Continued observations of the Double Pulsar, PSR J0737-3039A/B, consisting of two radio pulsars (A and B) that orbit each other with a period of 2.45hr in a mildly eccentric (e=0.088) binary system, have led to large improvements in the…
Although Lorentz symmetry is a staple of General Relativity (GR), there are several reasons to believe it may not hold in a more advanced theory of gravity, such as quantum gravity. Einstein-aether theory is a modified theory of gravity…
The energy-momentum budget of the astrophysical systems can be studied by the exact local conservation equation derived by Landau and Lifshitz. We show that a similar equation is valid for the Einstein-Cartan gravity. We reanalyze a binary…
A century ago, Einstein formulated his elegant and elaborate theory of General Relativity, which has so far withstood a multitude of empirical tests with remarkable success. Notwithstanding the triumphs of Einstein's theory, the tenacious…
Lorentz violation modifies the dispersion relation of gravitational waves (GWs), and induces birefringence and anisotropy in propagation. Our study shows that Lorentz violation can also activate multiple polarizations of GWs. We use the…
In general relativity, gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light, and so gravitons are massless. The masslessness can be traced to symmetry under diffeomorphisms. However, another elegant possibility exists: masslessness can…