Tests of general relativity - Cosmological tests

edit Einstein's general theory of relativity was introduced in 1915. Physicists accepted the theory because it correctly accounted for the precession of the perihelion of Mercury, a phenomenon which had long baffled physicists and because it unified Newton's law of universal gravitation with special relativity in a conceptually simple way. (Einstein has been famously quoted as saying that if his theory was falsified, then he would have felt "sorry for the dear Lord.") Despite Einstein's proposal of three classical te ...

Including:

• Tests of general relativity - Classical tests
• Tests of general relativity - Modern tests
• Tests of general relativity - Post-Newtonian tests of gravity
• Tests of general relativity - The equivalence principle
• Tests of general relativity - Strong field tests
• Tests of general relativity - Cosmological tests

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The modern era of testing general relativity was ushered in largely at the impetus of Dicke (1959, 1962) and Schiff (1960) who laid out a framework for testing general relativity. They emphasized the importance not only of the classical tests, but of null experiments, testing for effects which in principle could occur in a theory of gravitation, but do not occur in general relativity. Another important theoretical development were the new alternatives to general relativity theory – such as Brans-Dicke theory and other scalar-tensor theorie ...

See also:

Tests of general relativity, Tests of general relativity - Classical tests, Tests of general relativity - Modern tests, Tests of general relativity - Post-Newtonian tests of gravity, Tests of general relativity - The equivalence principle, Tests of general relativity - Strong field tests, Tests of general relativity - Cosmological tests

Read more here: » Tests of general relativity: Encyclopedia II - Tests of general relativity - Modern tests

Observations of binary pulsars have all demonstrated substantial periapsis precessions that cannot be accounted for classically but can be accounted for by using general relativity. For example, the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar PSR B1913+16, has an observed precession of over 4o of arc per year. This precession has been used to compute the masses of the components. A binary pulsar discovered in 2003, J0737-3039, has a perihelion precession of 16.88o. Similarly to the way in which atoms and molecules emit electromag ...

See also:

Tests of general relativity, Tests of general relativity - Classical tests, Tests of general relativity - Modern tests, Tests of general relativity - Post-Newtonian tests of gravity, Tests of general relativity - The equivalence principle, Tests of general relativity - Strong field tests, Tests of general relativity - Cosmological tests

Read more here: » Tests of general relativity: Encyclopedia II - Tests of general relativity - Strong field tests

In his 1916 paper, Einstein proposed three famous tests of general relativity, now called the classical tests: the gravitational redshift of light the deflection of light by the Sun the precession of the perihelion of Mercury In Newtonian physics, a lone object orbiting a spherical mass would trace out an ellipse with the spherical mass at a focus. The point of closest approach, called the perihelion in the solar system, is fixed. There are a number of solar system effects that cause the pe ...

See also:

Tests of general relativity, Tests of general relativity - Classical tests, Tests of general relativity - Modern tests, Tests of general relativity - Post-Newtonian tests of gravity, Tests of general relativity - The equivalence principle, Tests of general relativity - Strong field tests, Tests of general relativity - Cosmological tests

Read more here: » Tests of general relativity: Encyclopedia II - Tests of general relativity - Classical tests