Unravelling the Mystery of Gravity's Speed & Bend

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of gravity, its propagation speed, and its interaction with light and spacetime. Participants explore whether gravity itself is bent by other gravitational fields and how this relates to the motion of celestial bodies.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that gravity propagates at the speed of light, similar to electromagnetic forces.
  • One participant questions whether gravity is bent by other gravitational fields, suggesting that only light is affected by such bending.
  • Another participant proposes that while light follows geodesics in curved spacetime, gravitational waves might also follow similar paths, implying a connection between gravity and spacetime distortion.
  • A participant raises the question of whether a celestial body orbits the barycenter of its apparent position or its actual position, indicating a potential misunderstanding of gravitational effects.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether gravity itself is bent and how gravitational waves interact with spacetime. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants rely on various assumptions about the nature of gravity and spacetime, and there are unresolved questions regarding the definitions of terms like "barycenter" and "geodesic." The discussion does not clarify the mathematical implications of these concepts.

Stephanus
Messages
1,316
Reaction score
104
Dear PF Forum,

I realize that there are 4 basic forces in our universe.
Two of them are gravity and electromagnetic force.
Gravity curvature.jpg

Electromagnetic travels at the speed of light.
And it seems that Gravity travels/propagates at the speed of light also.

Light is bent by gravity. What about gravity?
Is gravity bent by gravity?
In the picture above. Planet C will see star A1 as in position A2.
What about the gravity? Does C orbit the barycentre of A2-B-C, or the barycenter of A1-B-C?

Thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
If you think about this, you will see that there's only one object and its real position is ##A_1## but as we know light path will change according to gravity of B planet. So we will see ##A_1## in ##A_2##.Thats doesn't mean gravity bent.Only light bent and we different place the object so the answer will be ##A_1## B C.Objects move according to space time curvature.If you think real ##A_1## is in ##A_2## that causes different curvature and movement.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Stephanus
Stephanus said:
What about the gravity? Does C orbit the barycentre of A2-B-C, or the barycenter of A1-B-C?
I don't think gravity is deflected this way, but gravitational waves might be.
 
Last edited:
Given that the reason for light being bent is because they follow the geodesic of a distorted spacetime, I would think gravity waves would do the same. It would strike me as peculiar if they somehow traveled through spacetime in a special manner independent of the distortion.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
1K
  • · Replies 42 ·
2
Replies
42
Views
3K
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
Replies
30
Views
3K
Replies
18
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 95 ·
4
Replies
95
Views
7K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 73 ·
3
Replies
73
Views
15K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K