Questions tagged [gravity]

Gravity is an attractive force that affects and is affected by all mass and - in general relativity - energy, pressure, and stress. Prefer newtonian-gravity or general-relativity if sensible.

When to Use This Tag

covers the discussion of the attractive force of gravity independently of a specific theory which could describe or explain this force. Hence, you should use the tag when comparing to or when trying to compare various theories. If you are after particular calculations, prefer or correspondingly.

Introduction

Gravity is a force that has been observed to affect all bodies with non-zero mass or energy. There are currently two working explanations of gravity (in their respective area of usefulness), but no successful theory has been proposed to explain gravity on a quantum-mechanical level at high energies.

Newtonian Gravity

The original description of gravity is based on the assumption of an overall attractive force $\vec F$ between bodies with mass $m_1$ and $m_2$ at a given distance $\vec r$, given by

$$ \vec F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^3} \vec r \quad.$$

This theory does not take into account the gravitational effect of energy, pressure, and stress and fails at large masses.

General Relativity (GR)

GR models gravity as a variation of space and time itself: Large bodies and energy densities bend the four-dimensional spacetime in such a way that an attractive effect between bodies is created. In the limit of small energy/mass densities, GR reproduces Newtonian gravity.

Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime

QFTCS is a framework that describes how behaves on top of a curved spacetime. In other words, gravity is treated as classical, whereas everything else is treated as quantum.

Examples of major results from QFTCS include , , , etc.

Quantum Gravity

So far, no successful quantization of gravity has been experimentally proven. Similarly to the gauge bosons $\gamma$, $W^\pm$, $Z^0$, and the various gluons, which mediate the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions, another boson, dubbed graviton, is assumed to mediate the gravitational attraction. From the various features of gravity (long-range, always attractive), it is inferred that the graviton is a massless spin-2 boson.

Note that the graviton is not to be confused with the Higgs mechanism, which creates the mass of the gauge bosons in the first place (and has nothing to do with gravity).

String Theory

One popular approach to quantum gravity is . has been successful in reproducing in the low-energy, classical limit. String theory aims not only to be a theory of quantum gravity but also a , which means it also unifies the other forces and matter together. String theory reproduces General Relativity in the non-stringy limit by requiring conformal invariance to constrain the beta functions to vanish.

String theory requires extra dimensions for conformal to vanish, and it also requires supersymmetry to have fermions in its spectrum. Neither of these has been observed to a conclusive position, though the $125 \ \text{GeV}$ Higgs is a piece of strong evidence for supersymmetry (as in, the , which has been shown to take place in certain realistic string vacua by Kumar, Acharya and Kane) and there has been a recent result hinting at third-generation superpartners being observed at the LHC.

Loop Quantum Gravity

is another well-known theory of quantum gravity that quantizes by using different variables, the Ashtekhar variables instead of the standard spacetime metric (with its corresponding Levi-Civita, or Christoffel connection.). Loop Quantum Gravity is formulated as a first-order theory, which means it uses the vielbin (specifically, the vierbin, a vielbin in 4-dimensional spacetime), i.e. the unit vector in curved spacetime. In fact, loop quantum gravity doesn't directly use the vierbin, but the vierbin is divided by the "Immirzi parameter".

It is well-known that Loop Quantum Gravity produces a , or granular, picture of spacetime. This makes it not Lorentz-invariant, which is considered a big problem for loop quantum gravity since Lorentz invariance has been very well-tested to the scale of the Planck length. Sen (2013) also showed that Loop Quantum Gravity does not produce a continuous or smooth picture of spacetime at large scales. Furthermore, loop quantum gravity does not incorporate the standard model interactions. This means that loop quantum gravity would need serious refinement.

Related theories

Supergravity and Kaluza - Klein theory

One related theory is theory. Kaluza - Klein Theory attempts to show that General Relativity in a 4 + 1 -dimensional reduces to in a 3 + 1 - dimensional spacetime PLUS Maxwell's electromagnetism () in a 3 + 1 - dimensional spacetime.

is an extension to , which also covers the ] and the [. To be consistent, it requires in order to allow fermions, too. also arises in the low-energy, classical limit of super - ies.

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How does gravity escape a black hole?

My understanding is that light can not escape from within a black hole (within the event horizon). I've also heard that information cannot propagate faster than the speed of light. I assume that the gravitational attraction caused by a black hole…
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Why would spacetime curvature cause gravity?

It is fine to say that for an object flying past a massive object, the spacetime is curved by the massive object, and so the object flying past follows the curved path of the geodesic, so it "appears" to be experiencing gravitational acceleration.…
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How do I explain to a six year old why people on the other side of the Earth don't fall off?

Today a friend's six year old sister asked me the question "why don't people on the other side of the earth fall off?". I tried to explain that the Earth is a huge sphere and there's a special force called "gravity" that tries to attract everything…
Amal
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How fast does gravity propagate?

A thought experiment: Imagine the Sun is suddenly removed. We wouldn't notice a difference for 8 minutes, because that's how long light takes to get from the Sun's surface to Earth. However, what about the Sun's gravitational effect? If gravity…
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How can anything ever fall into a black hole as seen from an outside observer?

The event horizon of a black hole is where gravity is such that not even light can escape. This is also the point I understand that according to Einstein time dilation will be infinite for a far-away-observer. If this is the case how can anything…
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If gravity isn't a force, then why do we learn in school that it is?

I have studied some of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, and I understand that it states that gravity isn't a force but rather the effects of objects curving space-time. If this is true, then why are we instructed in middle school that it is…
Peter Hall
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Why does the LIGO observation disprove higher dimensions?

I recently read this article which claims that last year’s LIGO observation of gravitational waves is proof that, at least on massive scales, there cannot be more than three spatial dimensions. I don’t understand the physics fully, so could someone…
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If gravity is a pseudoforce in general relativity, then why is a graviton necessary?

As far as I’m aware, gravity in general relativity arises from the curvature of spacetime and is equivalent to an accelerated reference frame. Objects accelerating in a gravitational field are in fact inertial and are moving through geodesics in…
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Why is light bent but not accelerated?

Light is bent near a mass (for example when passing close to the sun as demonstrated in the famous sun eclipse of 1919). I interpret this as an effect of gravity on the light. However, it seems (to me, at least) that light is not accelerated when it…
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Am I attracting Pluto?

My question is simple: as the title says, do I exert a gravitational force on distant objects, for example, Pluto? Although it is a very small force, it is there, right? This leads me to the question, am I exerting a gravitational force on…
Antonio Aguilar
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Could a "living planet" alter its own trajectory only by changing its shape?

In Stanislaw Lem's novel Solaris the planet is able to correct its own trajectory by some unspecified means. Assuming its momentum and angular momentum is conserved (it doesn't eject or absorb any mass), would this be possible (in Newtonian…
Petr
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Turbulent spacetime from Einstein equation?

It is well known that the fluid equations (Euler equation, Navier-Stokes, ...), being non-linear, may have highly turbulent solutions. Of course, these solutions are non-analytical. The laminar flow solutions (Couette flow for example) may be…
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How exactly does curved space-time describe the force of gravity?

I understand that people explain (in layman's terms at least) that the presence of mass "warps" space-time geometry, and this causes gravity. I have also of course heard the analogy of a blanket or trampoline bending under an object, which causes…
Zac
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Does gravity CAUSE the bending of spacetime, or IS gravity the bending of spacetime?

In reading these discussions I often see these two different definitions assumed. Yet they are very different. Which is correct: Does gravity CAUSE the bending of spacetime, or IS gravity the bending of spacetime? Or do we not know? Or is it…
foolishmuse
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Is spacetime flat inside a spherical shell?

In a perfectly symmetrical spherical hollow shell, there is a null net gravitational force according to Newton, since in his theory the force is exactly inversely proportional to the square of the distance. What is the result of general theory of…
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