Pulsars' Gyrations Confirm Einstein's Theory

摘要

Comparing a pair of massive stellar clocks known as pulsars, an international team of astronomers has put Einstein's theory of gravity to its toughest test yet. Published online by Science this week (www. sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/ 1132305), the results show that the theory of general relativity (GR) is accurate to within 0.05%, even in the ultrastrong gravity of a pulsar, a spinning neutron star measuring roughly 20 kilometers wide but weighing more than the sun. Further observations could enable researchers to peek into the structure of neutron stars, the hearts of which may contain a bizarre form of nuclear matter that flows without resistance.