O-19 - PSR J0348+0432 orbital decay matches the general-relativistic gravitational-wave prediction
Mass loss from the system and tidal contributions to Pb-dot are excluded as substantial contaminants; the observed decay is stable with no higher derivatives detected.
Link to original
Why this is evidence
The discrimination is indirect but real. The GR orbital-decay prediction is computed from the spectroscopically derived masses; the quantitative agreement is a cross-check on those masses that bypasses the white-dwarf atmosphere/cooling-model step, the main systematic on which H-44 could pin the J0348+0432 mass. Under H-44 the pulsar mass must actually be lower, and a materially lower mass pair would generically shift the predicted decay away from the observed value. H-1 predicts the observed consistency; H-44 has to attribute it to coincidence within the measurement precision. (The same observation bears on HC-13 as a strong-field GR test; here it functions only as mass corroboration.)