Speed of gravity

The Speed of Gravity is the speed at which changes in the location of an object propagate to all other objects that are affected by the gravity of that object. (essentially the rest of the universe) A gravity wave is a fluctuation in the gravity field around an object.

Most physicist believe that the velocity of gravitation is equal to the speed of light, considering that a larger velocity would violate relativity and causality. It is well known that the speed of gravity cannot be less than the speed of light, as that could be detected by changes in angular momentum in orbital bodies.

When Newton proposed his original mechanics, he had point particles exerting forces at each other instantaneously over great distance. Many people, including him, were bothered by this. According to special relativity changes in the gravitational field (ie: [gravity wave]?s propagate at the same speed as those in the electromagnetic field, i.e. light.

[Tom Van Flandern]? argues that it is at least 2 x 10 ¹⁰ times the speed of light, according to the [Lorentz Relativity]? theory, a little known alternative to Einstein's special relativity.

/Talk

---

external links: http://www.ldolphin.org/vanFlandern/gravityspeed.html