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My father is a generally intelligent person, however he has latched onto a theory which I believe to be completely incorrect.

He doesn't believe in gravity, but rather subscribes to an 'Electrical Theory of the Universe', see the website The Electric Universe.

I've looked into it enough to realize that it flies completely in the face of current physics models, but I'm not qualified to debunk it. I know it's almost certainly incorrect - extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence and all - but I can't demonstrate it.

So my question is this: Are there any observable behaviors which are inconsistent with the theory's predictions, or are there any demonstrable disproofs for this theory? What evidence can I present against it?

Edit: Sorry for the delay in this, but here's a link to a series of Youtube videos on the electrical theory of the universe (which seems to be the term used by it's proponents, alternatively called the plasma theory).

6-part Youtube video:

Qmechanic
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Jeff
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1 Answers1

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From my cursory overview of the stuff these people have online, there are a few really glaring problems:

  1. First and foremost, it doesn't appear that the electric universe model makes any quantitative predictions. I don't see any models for how stars and galaxies are supposed to form and behave, just a bunch of words about how gravitational models make too many assumptions or rely on too much theory, whatever that means. Really, this theory is not even wrong.
  2. Also, it appears that these models don't really discuss the equivalence principle. If you're going to use electricity to explain gravity, you need to explain why the rate at which something falls is independent of that object's charge (minus electric self-force), and also independent of that object's mass. Why do all objects near the Earth fall with the same acceleration?
  3. While dark matter and dark energy are problems, they solve problems that arise within a quantitative model. In particular, the standard $\Lambda$CDM models very precisely predict the relative abundance of hydrogen and helium in our universe. If the 'electric' universe can't do that, then it has a bigger problem than dark matter/dark energy
  4. Also, these people seem to believe in an eternal static universe with an infinite extent. They need to explain how they resolve Olbers' paradox

This list is hardly exhaustive, but these are a few starting points.

EDIT: This theory appears to be describing this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology

Plasma cosmology doesn't predict Hubble's Law, the relative abundances of the elements or the cosmic microwave background.

Zo the Relativist
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