Clifford WILL
(Washington University, Saint-Louis) &
Gilles ESPOSITO-FARESE (IAP)
Gravitation: theories and
experiments
Part 1 : C. Will
4 lectures: 26, 27, 28, 29 September 2006
Background Reading and
References:
- Theory
and Experiment in Gravitational Physics, C. Will (Cambridge
University Press, 1993)
- The
Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment,
C. Will, Living Reviews in Relativity 9,
3 (2006) (here)
- Special Relativity: A
Centenary Perspective, C. Will, EINSTEIN 1905-2005:
POINCARÉ SEMINAR 2005, ed. T. Damour, et al. (Birkhäuser
Publishing, Switzerland, 2006), p. 33 (gr-qc/0504085)
- Was Einstein Right?
C. Will (Perseus Books, 1993) (how to
find it)
Outline of Lectures
1. Einstein Equivalence Principle [PDF notes, PowerPoint file]
- foundations of metric
gravity
- universal vs non-metric
coupling
- THeu and related frameworks
- Kostelecky's Standard Model
Extension
2.
Post-Newtonian limit in GR [PDF notes, PowerPoint file]
- weak-field, slow-motion
limit
- the "relaxed" Einstein
equations
- derivation of the PN limit
3. PPN framework [PDF notes, PowerPoint file]
- parametrization of the PN
metric
- Lorentz transformations and
preferred frame effects
- conservation laws
4.Tests of PPN parameters [PDF notes, PowerPoint file]
- derivation of testable
effects
- deflection of light
- Shapiro time delay
- perihelion advance
- Nordtvedt effect
- gyroscope precession
- discussion of experiments
and currents bounds
- future experiments
Part 2 : G. Esposito-Farèse
3 lectures: 10, 11, 12 October 2006
A. Scalar-tensor gravity [PDF notes]
- General relativistic action
- Higher-order gravity
- Einstein and Jordan frames
- Scalar-tensor theories
- Nordström, Brans-Dicke and generalizations
- Weak-field predictions
- Strong-field predictions
- Gravitational waves
B. Binary-pulsar tests [PDF notes]
- Pulsars
- Post-Keplerian formalism
- PSRs B1913+16 and B1534+12
- The dissymmetric PSR J1141-6545
- The double pulsar J0737-3039
- Constraints on scalar-tensor theories
- Comparison with LIGO/VIRGO and LISA
- Null tests of symmetry principles
C. Modified Newtonian dynamics [PDF notes]
- Dark matter
- Milgrom's MOND phenomenology
- Various theoretical attempts
- Aquadratic (k-essence) models
- Light deflection
- Disformal and vector-tensor theories
- Experimental issues
- Pioneer anomaly