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Gravity as a Wave
Name: David H.
Status: student
Age: 30s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
If, as it is suspected, that gravitons exist and that
gravity is radiated, shouldn't gravity have wave properties? And
couldn't this suspected wave property of gravitons be used to show they
do exist? Which leads to a more practicle question, If gravity is shown
to have wave properties as is suspected then would it be possible to
cancel out the wave and nullify gravity? Or am I interpretting my
reading wrong?
Replies:
David,
Not all radiation behaves as waves. In fact, beta radiation is just a bunch
of electrons being released. Gravitons can behave as particles.
Even if they do have some wave properties, we can only examine them after we
learn to detect them. Most waves we work with are electromagnetic: radio,
microwaves, visible light, x-rays. Gravitons would be based on
gravitational force. They would have no effect of electrical detectors.
Once we figure out how to detect them, we will know that they are there
anyway.
One of the major reasons to believe in gravitons is the fact that gravity
decreases with distance as 1/(distance-squared). If gravitons are radiated
out in all directions, the number that reach you from the radiating object
will vary as 1/(distance-squared). The explanation works with photons
"carrying" electric force between charges. It would make several properties
of gravity easier to explain.
Dr. Ken Mellendorf
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Update: June 2012
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