On the unreasonable effectiveness of the post-Newtonian approximation in gravitational physics.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21447714.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1103127108 and PMC identifier 3076827.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The post-Newtonian approximation is a method for solving Einstein's field equations for physical systems in which motions are slow compared to the speed of light and where gravitational fields are weak. Yet it has proven to be remarkably effective in describing certain strong-field, fast-motion systems, including binary pulsars containing dense neutron stars and binary black hole systems inspiraling toward a final merger. The reasons for this effectiveness are largely unknown. When carried to high orders in the post-Newtonian sequence, predictions for the gravitational-wave signal from inspiraling compact binaries will play a key role in gravitational-wave detection by laser-interferometric observatories.