Question:
I would like a genm, more detailed explanation of gravitic waves and
(if available) a decription of the science fiction idea of "graivitic
mines." Is this a concept with backed by factual data or just a
fabrication?
Replies:
Suppose I wiggle a mass in my right hand back and forth. I have
another mass in my left hand. I expect the gravitational force on the
mass on my left hand to increase and decrease as the mass in my right
hand comes closer and farther away from it. But actually the wiggling
cannot be exactly in synch. Because it has to take a finite time for
the fact that the mass on the right moved to "register" with the mass
on the left. Specifically, that information travels at the speed of
light (or so we assume -- it could travel slower, I suppose). I can
regard this wiggling impulse moving from the right to left at the
speed of light as a gravity "wave" if I like. The analogy is to
moving your right hand in a pool, watching a wave then travel across
the pool and hit your left hand, transmitting the push from the right
hand to the left at a certain speed. The analogy is not exact,
because the wave in the water travels via the water, and the gravity
wave does not travel "through" anything, unless you want to invoke a
"fabric" of space.
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