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Article
Tests of General Relativity with GW170817
Faculty Publications
  • Tiffany Summerscales, Andrews University
  • LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration, LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2019
Abstract

The recent discovery by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo of a gravitational wave signal from a binary neutron star inspiral has enabled tests of general relativity (GR) with this new type of source. This source, for the first time, permits tests of strong-field dynamics of compact binaries in the presence of matter. In this Letter, we place constraints on the dipole radiation and possible deviations from GR in the post-Newtonian coefficients that govern the inspiral regime. Bounds on modified dispersion of gravitational waves are obtained; in combination with information from the observed electromagnetic counterpart we can also constrain effects due to large extra dimensions. Finally, the polarization content of the gravitational wave signal is studied. The results of all tests performed here show good agreement with GR.

Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.011102
First Department
Physics
Acknowledgements
Retrieved 8/19/2020 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/1811.00364.pdf
Citation Information
Tests of General Relativity with GW170817 B. P. Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration) Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 011102 – Published 1 July 2019