Related papers: Binary-pulsar tests of strong-field gravity
General relativity (GR) has been extensively tested in the solar system and in binary pulsars, but never in the strong-field, dynamical regime. Soon, gravitational-wave (GW) detectors like Advanced LIGO and eLISA will be able to probe this…
An outstanding question in modern Physics is whether general relativity (GR) is a complete description of gravity among bodies at macroscopic scales. Currently, the best experiments supporting this hypothesis are based on high-precision…
A new, field-theory-based framework for discussing and interpreting tests of gravity, notably at the second post-Newtonian (2PN) level, is introduced. Contrary to previous frameworks which attempted at parametrizing any conceivable…
As we showed in previous work, the dynamics and gravitational emission of binary neutron star systems in certain scalar-tensor theories can differ significantly from that expected from General Relativity in the coalescing stage. In this…
The timing of binary pulsars allows us to place some of the tightest constraints on modified theories of gravity. Perhaps some of the most interesting and well-motivated extensions to General Relativity are scalar-tensor theories, in which…
Some of the theoretical challenges posed by the general relativistic description of binary systems of compact objects (neutron stars or black holes) are reviewed. We recall the various ways one can use the theory of the motion, and of the…
Corrections to general relativity that introduce long-ranged scalar fields which are non-minimally coupled to curvature typically predict that neutron stars possess a non-trivial scalar field profile. An observer far from a star is most…
In Einstein's general relativity (GR), gravity is described by a massless spin-2 metric field, and the extension of GR to include a mass term for the graviton has profound implication for gravitation and cosmology. Besides the gravity…
Wide binaries provide promising laboratories for testing general relativity (GR) in the low-acceleration regime. Recent observational studies have found that the difference in the proper motions and/or radial velocities of the components of…
Scalar-tensor theories are the best motivated alternatives to general relativity and provide a mathematically consistent framework to test the various observable predictions. They can involve three functions of the scalar field: (i) a…
This first ever double pulsar system consists of two pulsars orbiting the common center of mass in a slightly eccentric orbit of only 2.4-hr duration. The pair of pulsars with pulse periods of 22 ms and 2.8 sec, respectively, confirms the…
(abridged) We report the results of a 10-year timing campaign on PSR J1738+0333, a 5.85-ms pulsar in a low-eccentricity 8.5-hour orbit with a low-mass white dwarf companion (...) The measurements of proper motion and parallax allow for a…
In this review we aim to describe the most stringent tests of the strong equivalence principle, the fundamental principle of General Relativity, using pulsar timing. For this purpose, we first construct the parametrized post-Newtonian and…
We consider multiple scalar fields coupled to gravity, with special attention given to two-field theories. First, the conditions necessary for these theories to meet solar system tests are given. Next, we investigate the cosmological…
Neutron star binaries and their associated gravitational wave signal facilitate precision tests of General Relativity. Any deviation of the detected gravitational waveform from General Relativity would therefore be a smoking gun signature…
General relativity can be formulated either as in its original geometrical version (Einstein, 1915) or as a field theory (Feynman, 1962). In the Feynman presentation of Einstein theory an hypothesis concerning the interaction of gravity to…
The theory of general relativity, which is extremely well verified by classic tests in the solar system as well as by the radiation of the binary pulsar, is one of the fundamental tools of nowadays astrophysics. It permits the computation…
Many physically motivated extensions to general relativity (GR) predict significant deviations in the properties of spacetime surrounding massive neutron stars. We report the measurement of a 2.01 +/- 0.04 solar mass pulsar in a 2.46-hr…
The initial results from timing observations of PSR J1141-6545, a relativistic pulsar white-dwarf binary system, are presented. Predictions from the timing baseline hint at the most stringent test of gravity by an asymmetric binary yet. The…
Pulsars, the cosmic lighthouses, are strongly self-gravitating objects with core densities significantly exceeding nuclear density. Since the discovery of the Hulse--Taylor pulsar 50 years ago, binary pulsar studies have delivered numerous…