Scientists discover unique triple star system that could help probe the true nature of gravity
The tightly packed system includes two white dwarf stars and a superdense neutron star, all squidged into an space smaller than the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which has allowed researchers to take the best measurements yet of the complex gravitational interactions in such a system.
When a massive star explodes as a supernova and its remains collapse into a superdense neutron star, some of its mass is converted into gravitational binding energy that holds the dense star together. The Strong Equivalence Principle says that this binding energy will still react gravitationally as if it were mass. Virtually all alternatives to General Relativity hold that it will not. “This system offers the best test yet of which is the case” said Scott Ransom of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
“Finding a deviation from the Strong Equivalence Principle would indicate a breakdown of General Relativity and would point us toward a new, correct theory of gravity” said Ingrid Stairs of the University of British Columbia.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/06/triple_star_system_gravity_relativity/
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