There are two active pulsars in the Double Pulsar system. The image is from Michael Kramer.
It has withstood its toughest challenge to date.
Albert Einstein published a theory in 1916 that changed our understanding of physics. Massive objects warp space-time, creating depressions around which other bodies can travel.
Over the past 105 years, scientists have tried to find situations or circumstances in which general relativity comes up short. They haven't found one yet.
The results of one of the most ambitious and involved challenges to general relativity have been reported. They looked at the observations of a double-pulsar system made by seven different radio telescopes.
The beams of radiation and particles that come from a pulsation are powerful. The light can be seen only when a pole is pointed at Earth, but it appears to pulse because of the rotating pulsars.
The research team investigated two pulsars that were about 2,400 light-years away from Earth. One of the pulsars spins 44 times per second, while the other completes one rotation every 2.8 seconds. The two objects are moving through space at a rate of around 1 million mph.
The study co-author Dick Manchester said, "These objects are about 30% more massive than the sun but only about 15 miles across, which allows us to test many different predictions of general relativity!"
The study achieved levels of precision never before achieved for a general relativity test.
"Our precision allows us to measure the effect of time dilation that makes the clock run slower in the field of gravity," Manchester said. Einstein's famous equation E = mc2 needs to be taken into account when considering the effect of the radiation on the motion of the pulsar.
The study found that all seven predictions were true. Researchers shouldn't stop trying to find cracks in general relativity, even though it is still perfect.
General relativity is not compatible with quantum mechanics. Robert Ferdman, a physicist at the University of East Anglia in England, said in the same statement that it is important to continue to place the most stringent tests upon general relativity.
Any deviation from general relativity would be a major discovery that would open a window on new physics. It may help us discover a unified theory of nature.
The study was published in the journal.
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