The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
Open accessAbstract
The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analyzing them is reviewed and updated. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eötvös experiment, tests of local Lorentz invariance and clock experiments. Ongoing 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, the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion, and frame-dragging. 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 a growing family of other binary pulsar systems is yielding new tests, especially of strong-field effects. Current and future tests of relativity will center on strong gravity and gravitational waves.
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Joyce et al. (2016) state that using SEP can be motivated by the conjecture that GR is the only metric theory that satisfies the SEP.
“They state that using the SEP to make this distinction can be motivated further by the conjecture that GR is the only metric theory that satisfy the SEP, see Will (2014).”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Will (2014)
In “Metric theories of gravity and the strong equivalence principle” (page not provided), Will says GR seems to be the only *viable* metric theory that fully embodies SEP, which supports the proposed motivation. But he also identifies Nordström’s theory as a metric theory that satisfies SEP, so the claim omits an important qualification. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredGeneral relativity fits all local tests of gravity.
“Impressively, GR fits all these local tests of gravity.”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Will 2014
Local tests of gravity establish stringent constraints at the solar system level that any gravity theory must pass.
“it has established very stringent constraints at the level of the solar system that any gravity theory must pass.”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Will 2014
Any modification to general relativity at cosmological scales must survive well-established stringent solar system tests of gravity.
“However, any such modification at cosmological scales must survive well-established stringent solar system tests of gravity (Will 2014).”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Will 2014
The most stringent constraint on Brans-Dicke theory comes from solar system tests, where the Cassini mission put the bound |ω_BD| > 40000.
“The most stringent constraint on Brans–Dicke (BD) theory comes from solar system tests where the Cassini mission put the bound (Bertotti et al. 2003; Will 2014).”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Will 2014
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References 567 · Cited by 3,996
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [186]Hees, A., Folkner, W. M., Jacobson, R. A. and Park, R. S., “Constraints on MOND theory from radio tracking data of the Cassini spacecraft”, arXiv, e-print, (2014). [ADS], [arXiv:1402.6950 [gr-qc]]. (Cited on page 40.) · arXiv
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- Authors
- Will, C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- Corresponding author
- Will, Clifford M.
- ORCID
- Will, Clifford M.
- Venue
- Living Reviews in Relativity
- Published
- 2014-06-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-3
- ISSN
- 1433-8351 (ISSN-L)
- 2367-3613
- PMC
- PMC5255900
- OpenAlex
- W2166436681
- Cited by
- 3,996
- References
- 567
- Citations by year
- 2026: 278 · 2025: 336 · 2024: 324 · 2023: 262 · 2022: 239 · 2021: 320 · 2020: 313 · 2019: 334 · 2018: 313 · 2017: 245 · 2016: 223 · 2015: 186 · 2014: 104 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 60
- FWCI
- 14.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Living Reviews in Relativity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0353180, 0652448, 9600049, 1306069, 0096522, 0965133, 1260995)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAG510186, NNG06GI60G)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Relativity and Gravitational Theory
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Keywords
- tests of general relativity, equivalence principle, Eötvös experiment, local Lorentz invariance, inverse-square law, unification, quantum gravity, post-Newtonian tests, light deflection, Shapiro delay, Nordtvedt effect, lunar motion, frame-dragging, gravitational wave damping, Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, strong-field gravity, gravitational waves
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