Open Questions: Tests of Relativity and Gravity
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See also: Gravitational waves
Binary pulsars
Lorentz invariance
Gravity at very short range
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Site indexes
Sites with general resources
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Gravity Probe B: Testing Einstein's Universe
- Information on a project to test relativity with orbiting
gyroscopes. Site contains some media articles about the project
and many questions and answers about
special and general relativity.
-
Gravity Probe B: The Relativity Mission
- NASA-sponsored home page for the Gravity Probe B experiment.
Contains news, photos, and background information on the project.
-
Observing Lense-Thirring Precession
- An article about the phenomenon, by Draza Markovic and
Frederick K. Lamb. Includes images and downloadable animations.
-
Review of Gravity Probe B
- Report to the U. S. National Academies of Science on the review
of the Gravity Probe B project.
See especially the
executive summary.
-
The Eöt-Wash Group: Laboratory Tests of Gravitational
Physics
- Research group "pioneering new techniques in high-precision
studies of weak-field gravity. Our scientific goal is to search
for experimental signatures of quantum gravity that would
violate Einstein's Equivalence Principle and/or the Newtonian
inverse-square law at some length scale."
Surveys, overviews, tutorials
-
Frame-dragging
- Article from
Wikipedia.
-
Precession in Curved Space: "The Geodetic Effect"
- Brief, single-page explanation.
-
In Search of Gravitomagnetism
- April 2004 article at NASA's
Exploring the Universe site. Explains the science behind the
Gravity Probe B experiment.
-
Gravitational labs in the sky
- Summary of March 2005 article from
Physics World.
"The first-ever double-pulsar system was discovered by radio
astronomers two years ago and has provided the sternest test
of general relativity to date."
-
Relativity at the centenary
- January 2005 article from
Physics World, by
Clifford M. Will.
"Gravitational physics has become a truly experimental science
as tests of the special and general theories of relativity
reach new levels of precision."
-
Pioneer anomaly put to the test
- September 2004 article from
Physics World, by
Slava Turyshev, John Anderson, Michael Martin Nieto.
"The European Space Agency is considering a unique experiment
that could explain strange gravitational phenomena in the outer
solar system."
-
Breaking Lorentz symmetry
- March 2004 article from
Physics World, by
Robert Bluhm.
"As physicists celebrate 100 years of Lorentz symmetry, some
theorists and experimentalists are working hard to spoil the
party."
-
Clear message for causality
- December 2003 article from
Physics World, by
Aephraim M. Steinberg. "Experiment confirms that information
cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light."
-
No thing goes faster than light
- September 2000 article from
Physics World, by
Aephraim M. Steinberg. "The observation of a light pulse leaving
a gas-filled chamber before it had even arrived sparked a media
frenzy, yet the laws of physics have remained intact."
-
Slingshot test for general relativity
- April 2001 news article from
Physics World.
"Physicists are hoping to make a new test of Einstein's
General Theory of Relativity by measuring the effect of
the Sun's gravity on a passing spacecraft."
-
The Search for Frame-Dragging
- Relatively brief page that presents some mathematical details
about frame dragging, by Clifford Will.
-
X-ray Astronomy Puts Einstein to the Test
- Describes how x-ray astronomy makes tests of general relativity.
Part of NASA's
Imagine the
Universe site.
-
Peering Over Einstein's Shoulders
- June 2002 Scientific American In Depth article, subtitled,
"Seeking still more complete descriptions of the workings of
spacetime, scientists are testing the boundaries of the special
theory of relativity."
-
The Nonnegligible Lightness of Gravity
- Brief February 2000 news story from Scientific American
on measurement of gravitational self-energy.
- The Search for Relativity Violations
Alan Kostelecky
Scientific American, September 2004
-
- Binary Neutron Stars
Tsvi Piran
Scientific American, May 1995, pp. 50-61
- Neutron stars are the remains of massive stars that undergo
supernova explosion. Binary neutron stars can occur when both
members of a binary star pair have been supernovae, so should be
very unlikely. Yet observations now suggest there may be as many
as 30,000 such pairs in our galaxy. When such a binary system
inevitbly collapses the result is a gamma ray burst, distinctive
gravitational waves -- and a good test of the general theory
of relativity.
- Clifford Will - Was Einstein Right? Putting General Relativity
to the Test
Basic Books, 1986
- Non-mathematical exposition that looks at a number of
predictions of general relatively and how they have been tested.
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Copyright © 2002 by Charles Daney, All Rights Reserved