Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics (2^nd Ed.)

The 2015 centenary of the publication of Einstein's general theory of relativity, and the first detection of gravitational waves have focused renewed attention on the question of whether Einstein was right. This review of experimental gravity provides a detailed survey of the intensive testing of Einstein's theory of gravity, including tests in the emerging strong-field dynamical regime. It discusses the theoretical frameworks needed to analyze gravitational theories and interpret experiments. Completely revised and updated, this new edition features coverage of new alternative theories of gravity, a unified treatment of gravitational radiation, and the implications of the latest binary pulsar observations. It spans the earliest tests involving the Solar System to the latest tests using gravitational waves detected from merging black holes and neutron stars. It is a comprehensive reference for researchers and graduate students working in general relativity, cosmology, particle physics and astrophysics.

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The Einstein equivalence principle; 3. Gravitation as a geometric phenomenon; 4. The parametrized post-Newtonian formalism; 5. Metric theories of gravity and their post-Newtonian limits; 6. Equations of motion in the PPN formalism; 7. The classical tests; 8. Tests of the strong equivalence principle; 9. Other tests of post-Newtonian gravity; 10. Structure and motion of compact objects; 11. Gravitational radiation; 12. Strong-field and dynamical tests of relativistic gravity; Index.

Clifford M. Will is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Florida and Chercheur Associé at the institut d'Astrophysique de Paris. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation.