- #1
Chris Miller
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If gravitational force is caused by a particle (tensor boson) which is massless and so travels at c, why doesn't matter ever exhaust, or even seem to reduce, its supply of these particles?
Chris Miller said:If gravitational force is caused by a particle (tensor boson) which is massless and so travels at c, why doesn't matter ever exhaust, or even seem to reduce, its supply of these particles?
rumborak said:I think it's also clear that you can't treat gravitons as regular particles by the sheer fact that even though they move with c *away* from the heavy object, their effect is to *pull* at whatever they meet.
rumborak said:True, but any change will propagate with c away from the source. That could be conceived to be a particle-like property, i.e. an indication that there is a constant "stream" (not that it is, just saying).
Gravitational force is a natural phenomenon by which objects with mass are attracted towards each other. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature and is responsible for keeping planets in orbit around the sun and for holding together galaxies.
According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity is not a force between masses, but rather a curvature of spacetime caused by the presence of mass or energy. This curvature causes objects to move along certain paths in spacetime, which we perceive as the force of gravity.
Massless particles are particles that have no mass. In the Standard Model of particle physics, these particles include photons (particles of light), gluons (particles that mediate the strong nuclear force), and the hypothetical gravitons (particles that mediate the force of gravity).
In quantum field theory, particles are created and destroyed constantly, and the energy and momentum of these particles can be transferred between systems. This means that even if a massless particle is destroyed, another one can be created in its place, resulting in an endless supply.
The existence of an endless supply of massless particles has significant implications for our understanding of the universe and the forces that govern it. For example, it may help us better understand the behavior of black holes and the nature of dark matter, which is thought to be made up of as-yet-undiscovered massless particles.