Tests of General Relativity with GW170817

LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

451 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number011102
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume123
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2019
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and Advanced LIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Max-Planck-Society (MPS), and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for support of the construction of Advanced LIGO and construction and operation of the GEO600 detector. Additional support for Advanced LIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, for the construction and operation of the Virgo detector and the creation and support of the EGO consortium. The authors also gratefully acknowledge research support from these agencies as well as by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India, the Department of Science and Technology, India, the Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India, the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, the Vicepresidència i Conselleria d’Innovació, Recerca i Turisme and the Conselleria d’Educació i Universitat del Govern de les Illes Balears, the Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana, the National Science Centre of Poland, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Russian Science Foundation, the European Commission, the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), the Royal Society, the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA), the Lyon Institute of Origins (LIO), the Paris Île-de-France Region, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office Hungary (NKFIH), the National Research Foundation of Korea, Industry Canada and the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communications, the International Center for Theoretical Physics South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Leverhulme Trust, the Research Corporation, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan and the Kavli Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the NSF, STFC, MPS, INFN, CNRS, and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for provision of computational resources.

FundersFunder number
Not addedST/N005422/1, ST/N005406/2, ST/I006269/1, ST/K000845/1, ST/N000633/1, ST/N000072/1, ST/J00166X/1, ST/N005430/1
National Science Foundation1707965, 1921006, 1707835, 1836779, 1726215, 1708081, 1806824, 1912632, 1716394, 1700765, 1828187, 1713678, 1807046, 1806461, 1806165, 1806990
National Science Foundation
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Kavli Foundation
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilST/H002006/1
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Leverhulme Trust
Royal Society
Scottish Funding Council
Scottish Universities Physics Alliance
European Commission
Australian Research Council
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Science and Engineering Research Board
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Generalitat Valenciana
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
National Research Foundation of Korea
Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Russian Science Foundation
European Regional Development Fund
Universitat de les Illes Balears
Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research

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