Gravity Waves & Gravitomotive Force: Is Rotation Possible?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the nature of gravity waves emitted by binary systems and the concept of gravitomotive force in relation to rotating masses. Participants explore the symmetry of gravity wave emission, the analogy between gravitational and electromagnetic fields, and the implications of varying gravitomagnetic fields.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire whether there are directions in space where gravity waves are not emitted due to symmetry, particularly in the context of binary systems.
  • One participant suggests that a steadily rotating mass should produce a gravitomagnetostatic field, analogous to the magnetostatic field produced by a rotating electric charge current.
  • There is a discussion about the nature of potential fields, with references to electrostatic and gravitostatic fields having zero integral through closed circuits.
  • Questions are raised regarding the effects of a varying gravitomagnetic field, including whether it could lead to a gravitomotive field with a nonzero integral over closed circuits, potentially causing rotation.
  • A framework known as gravitoelectromagnetism is mentioned, highlighting its limitations in modeling gravitational radiation and its analogy to electromagnetism.
  • One participant proposes that gravitational radiation may not occur in certain directions based on the constancy of the quadrupole moment, although they do not provide a rigorous proof or reference for this claim.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the emission of gravity waves and the implications of rotating masses. There is no consensus on the specific conditions under which gravitational radiation occurs or the effects of varying gravitomagnetic fields.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the behavior of gravitational fields and the nature of symmetry in wave emission, which remain unresolved. Limitations of the gravitoelectromagnetism framework are acknowledged, particularly regarding its applicability to gravitational radiation.

snorkack
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For a binary emitting gravity waves: are there any directions of space into which gravity waves are not emitted for reasons of symmetry?
Also:
a steadily rotating electric charge current causes a magnetostatic field
A steadily rotating mass must cause a gravitomagnetostatic field.
Electrostatic field of an electric monopole charge is a potential field. Its integral through any closed circuit is zero.
A gravitostatic field of a mass monopole charge is also a potential field. Its integral through any closed circuit is also zero.
When a magnetic field varies in time, it causes electromotive field. It is electric field, but it is allowed to have nonzero integral through closed circuits.
What happens when gravitomagnetic field varies through time, for example due to orbital movement?
Can varying gravitomagnetic field include a gravitomotive field, with nonzero integral over closed circuits?
In other words, can varying gravitomagnetic field cause a wheel to rotate?
 
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There is a framework in which gravity is treated by analogy with electromagnetism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitoelectromagnetism

This framework has limitations: for example, it is not covariant under coordinate transformations, as Maxwell's equations are. So it cannot model gravitational radiation. But it does give a good idea of which EM effects have reasonably close gravitational analogues.
 
So, repeating the first question:
snorkack said:
For a binary emitting gravity waves: are there any directions of space into which gravity waves are not emitted for reasons of symmetry?
 
snorkack said:
So, repeating the first question:

For a binary emitting gravity waves: are there any directions of space into which gravity waves are not emitted for reasons of symmetry?

I'd say yes, offhand, that there shouldn't be any GW emission in the directions in which the components of the quadrupole moment is constant. For instance, if the rotation is in the xy plane, and z is constant so that the integral of ##z^2 dm## is constant, I wouldn't expect any gravitational radiation in the z direction. But I don't have a rigorous proof, or a reference that says exactly this (Wiki and by memory several textbooks do say that you need a nonzero quadrupole moment to have gravitational radiation at all, but this doesn't quite say anything about the direction of the radiation).
 

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