Tests of General Relativity with GW170817

Authors

B. P. Abbott
R. AbbottFollow
Teviet Creighton, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Mario C. Diaz, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Soma Mukherjee, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Volker Quetschke, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Malik Rakhmanov, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
K. E. Ramirez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Robert Stone, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
D. Tuyenbayev, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
W. H. Wang, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The recent discovery by Advanced LIGOand AdvancedVirgo 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.

Comments

© 2019 American Physical Society. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.011102

Recommended Citation

Abbott, Benjamin P., R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, Fausto Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams et al. "Tests of general relativity with GW170817." Physical review letters 123, no. 1 (2019): 011102. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.011102

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.011102