In particular, pulsars have proved to be remarkably successful
laboratories for tests of the predictions of general relativity
(GR). The tests of GR that are possible through pulsar timing
fall into two broad categories: setting limits on the magnitudes
of parameters that describe violation of equivalence principles,
often using an ensemble of pulsars, and verifying that the
measured post-Keplerian timing parameters of a given binary
system match the predictions of strong-field GR better than those
of other theories. Long-term millisecond pulsar timing can also
be used to set limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave
background (see,
e.g., [73,
86,
65]), as can limits on orbital variability in binary pulsars for
even lower wave frequencies (see,
e.g., [20,
78]). However, these are not tests of the same type of precise
prediction of GR and will not be discussed here. This review will
present a brief overview of the properties of pulsars and the
mechanics of deriving timing models, and will then proceed to
describe the various types of tests of GR made possible by both
single and binary pulsars.
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Testing General Relativity with Pulsar Timing
Ingrid H. Stairs http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2003-5 © Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. ISSN 1433-8351 Problems/Comments to livrev@aei-potsdam.mpg.de |