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2007-04-11

Einstein At Least 99.95 Percent Right

A team at the University of Manchester have used three years worth of data on a pair of pulsars as a litmus test, against which they've tested Einstein's theory. From the article:

"Though all the independent tests available in the double pulsar system agree with Einstein's theory, the one that gives the most precise result is the time delay, known as the Shapiro Delay, which the signals suffer as they pass through the curved space-time surrounding the two neutron stars. It is close to 90 millionths of a second and the ratio of the observed and predicted values is 1.0001 +/- 0.0005 - a precision of 0.05%. A number of other relativistic effects predicted by Einstein can also be observed. "We see that, due to its mass, the fabric of space-time around a pulsar is curved. We also see that the pulsar clock runs slower when it is deeper in the gravitational field of its massive companion, an effect known as "time dilation".

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914094623.htm

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