Testing general relativity and the equivalence principle on astrophysical scales

Dr. Jean-Philippe Uzan
CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris

ABSTRACT:

The equivalence principle plays a central role in the construction of the physical laws of gravity from Galileo to Einstein's general relativity. After discussing the accuracy with which general relativity is tested in the Solar system, I will emphasize the need for extensions of these tests on astrophysical scales.

I will then describe the possibility to test general relativity with the observation of the large scale structure of the universe, and in particular with the coming weak lensing observations, and the equivalence principle with the study of fundamental constants. In particular, many experimental and observational constraints have been obtained from atomic clocks, the Oklo phenomenon, solar system observations, meteorite dating, quasar absorption spectra, stellar physics, pulsar timing, the cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis. I will provide a summary of these observations.

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