The Confrontation Between General Relativity and Experiment: A Centenary Perspective

Clifford M. Will

McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Department of Physics

Washington University, St. Louis, USA

We review the experimental evidence for Einstein's general relativity. Tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle support the postulates of curved spacetime, while solar-system experiments strongly confirm weak-field general relativity. The Binary Pulsar provides tests of gravitational-wave damping and of strong-field general relativity. We describe ongoing and future experiments, such as the recently completed Stanford Gyroscope Experiment, a satellite test of the Equivalence principle, and tests of gravity at short distance to look for extra spatial dimensions. Recently operational laser interferometric gravitational-wave observatories, and a future space interferometer, may provide new tests via the properties of gravitational waves.