Detection of Gravitational Anomaly at Low Acceleration from a Highest-quality Sample of 36 Wide Binaries with Accurate 3D Velocities

TL;DR

This study measures gravity at very low accelerations using 36 wide binary stars, finding evidence for a gravitational anomaly inconsistent with Newtonian physics, supporting alternative theories like MOND.

Contribution

First precise measurement of low-acceleration gravity using 3D velocities of wide binaries, challenging Newtonian gravity and supporting modified gravity models.

Findings

Gravity boost factor of approximately 1.6 detected.

Four binaries exceed Newtonian escape velocities, indicating nonstandard gravity.

Results are inconsistent with Newtonian gravity at 4.9 sigma.

Abstract

We set out to accurately measure gravity in the low-acceleration range $(10^{-11},10^{-9})$ m s$^{-2}$ from 3D motions of isolated wide binary stars. Gaia DR3 provides precise measurements of the four sky-plane components of the 3D relative displacement and velocity ($\mathbf{r}, \mathbf{v}$) for a wide binary, but not comparably precise line-of-sight (radial) separation and relative velocity $v_{r}$. Based on our new observations and the public databases/publications, we assemble a sample of 36 nearby (distance $<150$pc) wide binaries in the low-acceleration regime with accurate values of $v_{r}$ (uncertainty $< 100$ m s$^{-1}$). Kinematic contaminants such as undetected stellar companions are well under control using various observational diagnostics such as Gaia's ruwe parameter, the color-magnitude diagram, multi-epoch observations of radial velocities, Speckle interferometric follow-up observations, and requiring Hipparcos-Gaia proper motion consistency. For the parameter $\Gamma \equiv \log_{10}\sqrt{\gamma}$ with $\gamma \equiv G/G_{\rm N}$ (where $G$ is a parameter generalizing Newton's constant $G_{\rm N}$ in elliptical orbits), we find $\Gamma=0.102_{-0.021}^{+0.023}$, inconsistent with standard gravity at $4.9\sigma$, giving a gravity boost factor of $\gamma=1.600_{-0.141}^{+0.171}$. Four wide binaries have 3D relative velocities exceeding their estimated Newtonian escape velocities with $1<v_{\rm obs}/v_{\rm escN}\le1.2$. These systems are unlikely to be chance associations and are expected in a nonstandard paradigm such as Milgromian dynamics (MOND). The hypothesis that Newtonian gravity can be extrapolated to the low-acceleration limit is falsified by this independent study with accurate 3D velocities. Future radial velocity monitoring and Speckle interferometric imaging for larger samples will be useful to refine the present result.