A Tighter Constraint on post-Newtonian Gravity using Millisecond Pulsars

Abstract

Some theories of gravity predict the existence of preferred-frame effects and violations of conservation of energy and momentum. General relativity predicts no such effects. In the parameterised post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism, the parameter, \al3 $\equiv 0$ if these effects do not exist. The period derivatives ($\dot{P}$) of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are used to more tightly constrain these effects by showing that $|$\al3$|$ $< 5 \times 10^{-16}$.