Gravitational radiation, close binary systems, and the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity

Journal Article · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/168016· OSTI ID:7266007

Will, C M; Zaglauer, H W ^[1]

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1. Washington Univ., Saint Louis, MO (USA)

Observational limits on the orbital period change of the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 and of the 11-minute binary system 4U1820-30 are used to constrain the Brans-Dicke scalar-tensor theory of gravity. In 4U1820-30, dipole gravitational radiation damping is important. The conservative bound on the Brans-Dicke coupling constant is found to be omega(BD) greater than 30. The bounds are sensitive to the neutron-star model used and to the masses of the stars: for masses of 1.4 solar and 0.067 solar the bounds are omega(BD) greater than 140 for a stiff equation of state and omega(BD) greater than 600 for a soft equation of state. The binary pulsar differences between the Brans-Dicke theory and general relativity are suppressed by a factor related to the gravitational energy of the neutron stars, so that the resulting constraint on omega(BD) is uninteresting. 31 refs.

• OSTI ID: 7266007
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 346; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BINARY STARS
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF STATE
FIELD THEORIES
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
GRAVITATION
GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
MASS TRANSFER
NEUTRON STARS
PULSARS
RADIATIONS
RELATIVITY THEORY
SCALARS
STARS
TENSORS