Browse Physics

Atom interferometry may enable ways to measure gravitational waves without the destructive influence of laser fluctuations.

A modified form of Lagrange’s equations of motion will make it easier to account for energy loss in a mechanical system.

The surprisingly complex behavior of three gravitationally attracted bodies includes several previously unknown periodic orbits.

No cause for alarm, but new simulations show that less energy than previously thought is needed to form a black hole in a particle collision.

Microparticles suspended in an optical cavity may be a new way to detect gravity waves.

Contrary to the common view, the gravitational lensing from cosmic voids causes a brightening—not a dimming—of background objects, according to new calculations.

Existing or planned electron accelerators may be able to see the breakdown of general relativity.

New calculations of hypothetical “black hole bombs” set an upper limit on the possible mass of the photon and on the existence of certain dark matter candidates.

The gravitational version of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, where particles are affected by the gravitational potential in the absence of a force, could be demonstrated in a lab-scale experiment using ultracold atoms.

Using the orbiting network of GPS satellites, researchers have placed new limits on how much Planck’s constant varies with respect to relativistic changes.

A well-known model for studying magnetic phase transitions may provide a path to developing a quantum theory of gravity.

Theorists show that mathematical divergences may not be a problem for the low-energy limit of certain effective theories of quantum gravity.

Nearly fifty years after its inception, the Gravity Probe B satellite mission delivers the first measurements of how a spinning gyroscope precesses in the gravitational warping of spacetime.

Tests of an early design for a gravity-wave detector determine sensitivity limits in a new frequency window.

A modification of the theory of gravity can explain the dynamics of gas-rich galaxies without the need for dark matter.

LISA, a future gravitational wave detector, could find evidence that the early universe had fewer than three spatial dimensions.

Ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices allow high-precision measurement of the gravitational constant.

More realistic simulations of merging binary black holes should help guide experiments designed to detect gravity waves.

Surface waves in a trough of flowing water provide an analog system in which to study Hawking radiation.

More than a decade’s worth of data collected from the LAGEOS II satellite is offering a new way to test general relativity.