Indeed.
That said, however, Gravity propagation **could** be isolated from all involved components.
It is the Moon's gravity and orbital motion that causes our tidal movements, after all.
Posted on 11/09/2005 1:41:45 PM PST by aculeus
But wouldn't the passing gravitational wave change not only the spatial length but also everything in that space, light wavelength included?
Indeed.
That said, however, Gravity propagation **could** be isolated from all involved components.
It is the Moon's gravity and orbital motion that causes our tidal movements, after all.
Not if GR is correct (and we have every reason to believe that it is) - that these waves propagate at a limit of c is a consequence of general relativity.
There will be some serious explaining to do if this is not found to be the case...
KEWL! ...Picometer range?.. :)
World's biggest interferrometer?
I agree. Gravity waves are not electromagnetic waves. Aren't gravity waves ossicaltions OF spacetime, and not IN spacetime? It's the fabric of space changing, not something in space.
Well, that's the whole trick here. These guys have two detectors like this that they are watching. Fluctuations that appear only on one might well be due to a personal appearance by the senior senator from MA in its local area. They expect to be able to tune stuff like that out, leaving only signals of extraterrestrial provenance.
If they want to check gravity wave propagation speed, they would need a terrestrial source with known, different distances to each detector. For, instance, they could have Teddy do a cannonball into Poucha Pond. That would generate some sort of gravity wave, and possibly tidal effects to boot.
Since I'm a chemist and not a physicist, I must ask this. If c is the limit of gravitational waves as well as electromagnetic waves, doesn't that imply that there is a unification between the forces of gravity and electromagnetism?
I have always felt that gravity was a constant.
Sort of like the ocean where any 'movement' of the waters is really the 'effect' of passing through it.
I'm just using the ocean as a rough example.
Since I have no real scientific background to test this, then I also have no way to prove it either.
No, not practically. You're talking about something with a likely lag time of a second in a system with lags of hours.
Imagine the possibilities for communication technology!
You have to account for momentum, and that is hard in the ocean. It takes time for the accelleration of the water to catch up, and the signl to noise ratio is very, very low.
The lowest mass objects are easier. Light has mass, but in a laser in a vacuum, it is pretty precise.
Then again, the first time I heard of gravity waves, I thought it was obvious, actually. It is so weak, though, that is amazingly hard to measure directly.
I thought that they proved that gravity travels at the speed of light when it was first observed that the relative position of an orbiting body (like the sun) tacked the gravitational pull of the orbit around it (like the earth).
8 minute delay in both cases.
It implies it, but it certainly doesn't prove it. The general consensus of scientists is that the Grand Unified Theory when it develops is going to unite the four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force) under one unified theory with a framework that is similar to quantum electrodynamics. In three of the fundamental forces there is a particle that transmits the force (electromagnetism by the photon, the weak nuclear by the W and Z bosons, and the strong nuclear force by gluons). There is a hypothesis that a (as of yet undetected) particle called the graviton exists that transmits the gravitational force. A key point about all of these particles is that special relativity states that a particle must travel less than the speed of light if it has mass. The photon does not have mass so the electromagnetic force travels at the speed of light. It is hypothesized that the gluon and the graviton will also not have mass, and hence they will travel at the speed of light.
So far there has been success at unifying the strong nuclear, the weak nuclear, and the electromagnetic forces. The main reason is because their forces are strong and easily observed. Gravity is 10^36 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 10^38 times weaker than the strong nuclear force. Designing experiments to detect the graviton, therefore, requires extreme precision. Once the graviton is detected (if it exists), then a theory like quantum electrodynamics (for the electromagnetic force, QED) or quantum chromodynamics (for the strong nuclear force, QCD) can be developed. Once that theory is developed it can be merged with QED and QCD yielding the grand unified theory.
bookmark
The neat thing about my theory is that it may be tested without leaving the confines of this solar system, and may already have the requisite data in other unrelated measurements. I'd love to discuss it with someone willing to keep an open mind, or graciously point out the error of my thinking.
Imagine the possibilities for communication technology!
How about the possibilities of "beaming" or teleporting instantly?
Whatever theory you might have, it is a special case of the more general theory yet to come. This statement is an article of what passes for faith in science.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.