I Do particles in the universe exchange gravitons with each other?

[Art Charbonneau]

Does each and every, say, proton, neutron and dark matter particle (DMP) exchange gravitons with each and every other proton, neutron and DMP in the universe?

(Sorry if this question has been posted to the wrong forum. Advice re correct forum would be appreciated.)

Art

 

[Drakkith]

In the context of a quantum field theory of gravity, yes. But note that particles are not sending out gravitons to be capture and absorbed by other particles as if the gravitons where like little bullets. Virtual particles are a confusing concept and it may be better to think of them as mathematical constructs or artifacts instead of 'real' particles (i.e. something that exists outside of the math). However, there is considerable debate as to whether virtual particles actually exist or not.

 

[Khashishi]

Note that gravitons haven't been discovered yet, so it's not known if they exist.

 

[slow]

It is undeniable what Drakkith said. To say something else we need to enter into an epistemological field. Physics assumes that a body is the result of elementary components. Could a body participate in a phenomenon without its elementary components participating? Denying that we create many difficulties and resolve few, if any. The problem is to determine how the elementary components can participate. The weak force is associated with a type of events at elementary level that do not always happen, but gravity also works when they do not happen. The strong interaction has very short range. The electromagnetic interaction, in comparative terms, is much more intense than gravity. In what way can the elementary components participate in gravitation? The graviton hypothesis is an attempt to answer the question. The good thing about this hypothesis is to stay within what historically has given good results, that is, to formulate the macroscopic behavior as a result of elementary phenomena. The bad has been pointed out by Drakkith, that is, no experimental evidence of the graviton has been found.