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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 |
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The speed of gravity is the speed at which changes in the location of an object propagate to all other objects in the universe. |
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The exact speed of gravity is not known. Some physicists have argued that it is infinite. Others have claimed it is equal to the speed of light. 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 competitor to Einstein's special relativity. /Talk? external links: http://www.ldolphin.org/vanFlandern/gravityspeed.html |
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When Newton proposed his original mechanics, he had point particles exerting forces at each other instantaneously over great distances. Many people, including him, were bothered by this. The introduction of a gravitational field provides a medium of sorts for broadcasting that information, but changes in positions of objects still instantly affects the field infinitely far away. In general relativity, the currently accepted theory, the gravitational field is equated with the curvature of space-time, and propagations (including [gravity wave]?s) can be shown to travel at the speed of light. A faster speed would violate causality. It is well known that the speed of gravity can't be appreciably less than the speed of light, since that could be detected by changes in the angular momentum of the planets. |
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