Index

Abbott, E. A.  82
Aberration  49
Absolute zero temperature  40, 97
Accretion disk  157, 170, 172, 176
Adams, Walter  26
Adelberger, Eric  134
Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA)  258
Agol, Eric  175
Alternative theories of gravity  14, see also Brans-Dicke theory
Amaldi, Edoardo  197
Angstrom  24
Apastron  117
Apollo  11, 138
Archibald, Anne  140
Arcsecond  47
Arecibo Radio Telescope  74, 107, 269
Armstrong, Neil  138
Astronomical unit  69
Atomic clock
cesium and rubidium clocks  31
cold atom clocks  40
hydrogen maser clock  32
Baade, Walter  110
Balick, Bruce  162
Bardeen, James  174
Barish, Barry  203, 247
Bell-Burnell, Jocelyn  108
Bender, Peter  254
BepiColombo mission  121
Bergmann, Peter  147, 153
Billing, Heinz  197, 202
Binary black holes  219
extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRI)  264
inspiral  215, 224
Binary neutron stars  220
inspiral  2, 220, 232–41
Binary pulsar  8, 107–29, see also Double pulsar
and gravitational waves  8, 127–9
decrease of orbital period  127
discovery  111–9
formation  125–7
orbital period  116, 124
periastron advance  121, 122
pulse period  112, 124
relativistic effects  124
total mass  122
Binary system  113
and gravitational waves  127
Binary white dwarfs  264
Binary X-ray system
containing a black hole  5, 155, 156
containing a neutron star  158
Black hole
at Galactic Center, see Sagittarius A*
binary, see Binary black holes
event horizon  149, 157
gravitational field  154
in M  87, 175
Kerr solution  152, 169, 177
“no-hair” theorems  169, 177
rotating  152, 169
Schwarzschild solution  143
shadow  172
supermassive  160
Blinnikov, Sergei  237
Bode, Johann  47
Bohr, Niels  224
Bondi, Hermann  191
Bradley, James  49
Braginsky, Vladimir  197
Brans, Carl  6
Brans-Dicke theory  6, 135
Brillet, Alain  204
Brown, Robert  162
Brownian motion  153
Bruns, Donald  3, 43, 60
Burgay, Marta  129
Campbell, William  47, 59
Cannon, Robert  81
Cassini spacecraft  76
Cavendish, Henry  45
Center of mass  116
Chandrasekhar mass  126, 158
Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan  126
Chapel Hill conference  189, 197
Choquet-Bruhat, Yvonne  6
Chwolson, Orest  79
Ciufolini, Ignazio  101
Compton Gamma-ray Observatory  236
Cordova, France  179
Corpuscular theory of light  44
Cosmic background radiation, see Cosmology
Cosmological term  13
Cosmology
accelerated expansion  12, 257
big bang  9
Big Bang nucleosynthesis  238
cosmic background radiation  6, 192, 201
Cottingham, Edwin  55
Crab nebula  110
Crommelin, Andrew  55
Curtis, Heber  59
Curved spacetime,  see Spacetime: curved
Cygnus X-1 155
Danzmann, Karsten  256
Dark energy  12
Dark matter  11, 79
Davidson, Charles  55
de Sitter effect  84
de Sitter, Willem  54
Deflection of light
and Eddington  54
and equivalence principle  47
and radio interferometers  61
Cavendish calculation  45
eclipse expeditions  54, 59
from quasars  60
gravitational lens, see Gravitational lens
over entire sky  60
VLBI measurements  64
von Soldner calculation  46
Dicke, Robert  6, 200
Doeleman, Sheperd  175
Doppler shift  21, 25, 108, 155
in binary pulsar  113
in Gravity Probe-A  33
Double pulsar  129–32
precession of spin axis  131
Double quasar  78, see also Gravitational lens
Drag-free control  96, 255
Dragging of inertial frames  159, 174, see also Gravity Probe-B; Gyroscope
and absolute rotation  88–91
and Sagittarius A*  168
effect on orbits  92, 101
Kerr black hole  152
LAGEOS measurements, see Laser Geodynamics Satellite
Drago, Marco  210
Drever, Ronald  197, 203, 254
Droste, Johannes  145
Dyson, Frank  54
Dyson, Freeman  219
Earth
gravitational field and GRACE  104
Schwarzschild radius of  145
Earth-Moon system, see also Nordtvedt effect
de Sitter effect  84
Eccentric orbit  46, 117
Eclipse expedition, see Deflection of light
Eclipse of Sun, see Solar eclipse
Eddington, Arthur Stanley  3, 26, 54, 184, see also Deflection of light and “speed of thought”  184
and gravitational redshift, see Gravitational redshift: Sirius B
Einstein, Albert
and “12 wise men”  4
and gravitational waves  182–8
cosmological term  13
palpitations of the heart  121
unified field theory  5
Eisenstaedt, Jean  5
Electromagnetism  181
Maxwell’s equations  181
Elliptical orbit, see Eccentric orbit
Eöt-Wash experiments  134
Eötvös, Lorand  18, 134
Equivalence of mass and energy  17, 134, 227
Equivalence principle  18, 133
and deflection of light  47
and freely falling laboratory  18
and gravitational redshift  19
strong  135
weak  133
Euclidean space  52
European Space Agency (ESA)  65, 76, 256
Event horizon, see Black hole: event horizon
Event Horizon Telescope  62, 176
Everitt, C. W. Francis  94, 103
Fairbank, William  81, 92, 197
Falcke, Heino  175
Faller, James  254
Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope  2, 233
Feynman, Richard  191, 197
Finkelstein, David  147
Finlay-Freundlich, Erwin  47
Flat space, see Euclidean space
Flatland  82
Forward, Robert  200
Fourth test of general relativity  71
Fowler, William  152
Freely falling laboratory, see Equivalence principle
Gaia  60, 65
Galactic Center  163
Galilei, Galileo  18, 133
Gamma rays  27, 233
Gamma-ray bursts  236
GRB170817  233
Gamow, George  192
Gargantua  16, 41, 174
Gedanken experiment  18, 67
General relativity
and doubling of light deflection  50
black holes, see Black hole
curved spacetime  52
deflection of light, see Deflection of light
difficulty of  4
frame dragging, see Dragging of inertial frames
gravitational waves  see Gravitational waves
low water mark  5, 189
Mercury’s perihelion advance  119
neutron stars, see Neutron star
strong equivalence principle, see Equivalence principle: strong
time delay of light, see Shapiro time delay
Genzel, Reinhard  163
Geodesic  52
Geodetic effect, see Gyroscope: geodetic effect
Gerstenshtein, M.  200
Ghez, Andrea  1, 164
Giazotto, Adalberto  204
Global Positioning System (GPS)  36
Gold, Thomas  152
Goldenberg, H. Mark  32
Goldin, Daniel  98
Gravitational lens  77–80, 171
and exoplanets  80
Einstein ring  79
Einstein’s calculation  78
Gravitational radius, see Black hole:
event horizon  
Gravitational redshift, see also Equivalence principle
and equivalence principle  19
and GPS  38
and Interstellar  16, 41
jet-lagged clocks experiment  29
near Sagittarius A*  42, 166
Pound-Rebka experiment  27
rocket redshift experiment, see Gravity Probe-A
Sirius B  26
solar redshift  3, 24
Gravitational slingshot  220
Gravitational waves
analogy with sound  206
effect on objects  189, 193
Einstein’s calculation  182
Einstein-Rosen disproof  186–8
Feynman’s “sticky beads”  191
polarization  190
reality  188–91
ringdown  215, 226
speed  3, 183, 227, 239
Gravitational-wave astronomy  180
Gravitational-wave detection
binary black hole merger  180
GW150914  206, 209–19
GW170814  231
GW170817  232–40
smartphone app  242
triangulation  231, 247
Gravitational-wave detectors
AIGO  204, 249
Einstein Telescope (ET)  251
GEO-600  204, 251
KAGRA  204, 243–6
LIGO  2, 180, 203
LIGO-India  246, 250
LISA  2, 256–62
LISA Pathfinder  1, 259
pulsar timing arrays  268
resonant bars  194
Virgo  2, 204
Weber’s detectors  195
Gravitational-wave sources
black-hole binary inspiral  180, 224, 263
EMRIs  264
laboratory  191
massive black hole binaries  263, 270
neutron-star binary inspiral  220–4, 232
supernova  195
white dwarf binaries  264
Graviton  228
mass of  228
Gravity Probe-A  33–6, 94
Gravity Probe-B  94–101
history  91
patch effect anomaly  100
Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment (GRACE)  104, 169
Green Bank Radio Telescope  132, 269
Grossmann, Marcel  121
Gyroscope
and absolute rotation, see New ton’s bucket
dragging of inertial frames  85–7
geodetic effect  82–5
superconducting  92
Gyroscope experiment, see Gravity Probe-B
Hafele, J. C.  31
Hanford, Washington  203, 209
Hawking, Stephen  141
Haystack telescope  70, 175
Hellings, Ronald  256
Herschel, Wilhelm  46, 234
Hertz, Heinrich  182, 191
Hewish, Antony  108
Hipparcos  65
Hoyle, Fred  152
Hubble Space Telescope  27, 98, 235, 257
Hubble, Edwin  13
Hulse, Russell  8, 107, see also Binary pulsar: discovery of
Hulse-Taylor pulsar, see Binary pulsar
Hydrogen maser clock, see Atomic clock: hydrogen maser clock
Infeld, Leopold  187
Infrared astronomy  163
Institute for Advanced Studies  186, 219
Interferometer, see also Gravitational-wave detectors
Michelson  199, 252
very long baseline, see Radio interferometry
Interstellar  16, 41, 174
Inverse square law  167
James Webb Space Telescope  257
Jansky, Karl  61, 161
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)  73, 92, 256
Jewish science  57
Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE)  258
Ka-band radar  77
Kamiokande  243
Keating, Richard  31
Keck Observatory  164
Kennefick, Daniel  58, 188
Kerr, Roy  152, see also Black hole: Kerr solution
Kilonova  238
Kleppner, Daniel  31
Kruskal, Martin  147
Laplace, Pierre Simon  45, 142
Laser Geodynamics Satellite (LAGEOS)  101
measurement of frame-dragging  101–106
Laser interferometer  198, see also Gravitational-wave detectors
Laser ranging
to LAGEOS satellites  101
to the Moon  102, 138
Laser Relativity Satellite (LARES)  105
Laser retroreflector  101, 138
Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph  120
Leaning Tower of Pisa  18
Lenard, Philipp  57
Lense, Josef  92
Lense-Thirring effect, see Dragging of inertial  frames; Gyroscope
Levine, Martin  32
Lick Observatory  47, 136
LISA Pathfinder, see Gravitational-wave detectors
Little green men  108
Livingston, Louisiana  203, 209
Lodge, Oliver  79
Lorentz, Hendrik  145, 182
Luminet, Jean-Pierre  174
Lunar laser ranging, see Laser ranging: to the Moon
Lundgren, Andrew  211
Magnetic field
of Earth  111
of pulsar  111
of superconducting gyroscope  97
Mariner spacecraft  73
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter  77
Marx, Jay  247
Matthews, Thomas  150
Maxwell’s equations, see Electromagnetism: Maxwell’s theory
Maxwell, James Clerk  181
Megahertz  33
Melia, Fulvio  175
Mercury  119
and Shapiro time delay  72
Mercury MESSENGER  77, 121
Messier 87 (M87)  175
Michell, John  44, 142
Microarcsecond  62
Micronewton  256
MICROSCOPE  134
Milky Way
center of  161
Milliarcsecond  63
Moon
laser ranging, see Lunar laser ranging
Nordtvedt effect, see Nordtvedt effect
Morley, Edward  198
Morrison, Philip  153
Mössbauer effect  28
Mössbauer, Rudolph  28
Mount Palomar telescope  150
Nanometer  61
Nanosecond  31
Narayan, Ramesh  159
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)  33, 73, 76, 93, 104, 256
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)  110, 162
National Science Foundation (NSF)  179
Neptune  120
Neutron star  109, see also Pulsar Newton’s bucket 88–91
Newton’s gravitation theory  44
and deflection of light, see Deflection of Light
orbits in  46
Newton, Isaac  44, 133
Niobium  97
Nobel Prize  4, 8, 25, 28, 108, 126, 129, 180, 193
Nolan, Christopher  41, 174
Nordström, Gunnar  182
Nordtvedt effect  136
in Earth-Moon system  136–9
in pulsar triple system  139
Nordtvedt, Kenneth  135
Oppenheimer, J. Robert  146
Papapetrou, Achilles  152
Parkes Radio Telescope  129, 269
Periastron  119
Periastron advance
of binary pulsar, see Binary pulsar
Pericenter  165
Perihelion advance of Mercury, see General relativity: Mercury’s perihelion advance
Perrine, Charles  47
Philiponus, Ioannes  133
Pirani, Felix  189
Poincaré, Henri  182
Pound, Robert  27
Pound-Rebka experiment  27
Precession of gyroscope, see Gyroscope
Principe  55
Principle of equivalence, see Equivalence principle
Pugh, George  94
Pulsar  5, 268, see also Binary pulsar; Neutron star
Crab  110
discovery of  108
double, see Double pulsar
Hulse-Taylor search 112
in a triple system  132–140
millisecond  268
nature of  109
period stability  268
Pulsar timing arrays  268
Pustovoit, V.  200
Quantum gravity  10
Quantum mechanics  8
Quasar  5, 60, 91, 150
and black holes  91, 159
and deflection of light  61
double  78
Quasi-stellar radio source, see Quasar
r-process nucleosynthesis  238
Radar ranging  69, see also Shapiro time delay
Radiation pressure  75, 254
Radio astronomy  51
Radio interferometry  61, 162
VLBI,  62, 98, 174
Radio source  61
Radio waves  61
Ramsey, Norman  32
Ransom, Scott  132
Rebka, Glen  27
Refraction of light  65
Reitze, David  180
Relativistic astrophysics  151, see also Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics
Renn, Jürgen  79
Retroreflector, see Laser retroreflector
Robertson, Howard Percy  146, 187
Rosen, Nathan  186, 189
Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse  80
Royal Greenwich Observatory  54, 58
Ryle, Martin  108
Sagan, Carl  102, 239
Sagittarius A* (Sgr A* )  163
and S-stars  164
mass  166
pericenter advance  168
Sandage, Allan  150
Schiff, Leonard  81, 92
Schwarzschild radius, see Black hole: event horizon
Schwarzschild singularity  144
Schwarzschild solution, see Black hole: Schwarzschild solution
Schwarzschild, Karl  142–5
Scintillation  108
Scout D rocket  33
Second of arc, see Arcsecond Seismic noise 195, 243, 253
Shapiro time delay  65–77
Cassini spacecraft  76
effect of solar corona  77
in double pulsar  130
Mariner missions  74
planetary radar  72
Viking mission  75
Shapiro, Irwin  69
Sirius B  26
Snider, Joseph  29
Snyder, Hartland  146
Sobral, Brazil  55
Solar eclipse  47, 54, see also Deflection of light: eclipse expeditions
Solar wind  75, 96, 254
Space curvature
rubber sheet analogy  52
Spacetime
continuum  51
curved  51, 53
Special relativity  17
constancy of speed of light  20
mass-energy equivalence  17
time dilation  17, 29
Spectral line  24
Spectrum  24
Speed of gravitational waves, see Gravitational waves: speed
Speed of light, see also Michelson-Morley experiment
Sphereland  82
Sputnik  93
St. John, Charles  25
Stanford gyroscope experiment, see Gravity Probe-B
Stanford University  81, 91
Strong equivalence principle, see Equivalence principle: strong
Sun
Schwarzschild radius of  145
Superior conjunction  70
Supernova  110, 126, 156, 195, 236
Szekeres, George  147
Tate, John  186
Taylor, Joseph  8, 107
Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics  5, 8, 121, 128, 151
Thirring, Hans  92
Thorne, Kip  5, 41, 152, 174, 180, 198, 202
Thought experiment, see Gedanken experiment
Time delay,  see Shapiro time delay
Time dilation
and GPS  38
in binary pulsar  125
in Hafele-Keating experiment  29
Transponder  34, 75, 254
Turner, Michael  12
Tyson, J. Anthony  197, 235
Uhuru X-ray satellite  155
Unified field theory  5
Universe, see Cosmology
Uranus  120
Very Large Telescope Interferometer  163
Very long baseline interferometry, see Radio interferometry: VLBI
Vessot, Robert  32, 94
Viking spacecraft  75
Vogt, Rochus  203
von Soldner, Johann Georg  46, 58
Vulcan  121
Wave theory of light  47
Weber, Joseph  127, 189, 192–6, 201
claims of gravitational-wave detection  196
legacy  197
resonant bar detectors  193
Weiss, Rainer  197, 200, 253
Wheeler, John  147, 152, 169, 193
and black hole name  149
White dwarf  25, 109, 126, 158
binaries  264
Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)  257
Wineland, David  41
X-band radar  77
X-ray astronomy  155
X-ray sources  155
Zacharias, Jerrold  200
Zoom-whirl orbits  264
Zwicky, Fritz  79, 110