4 ms·
I've always wondered, if gravity is a wave (has it been confirmed?), then there must be areas in space where different waves superimpose. Would the constructiv
by sloppycee 10y ago
I've always wondered, if gravity is a wave (has it been confirmed?), then there must be areas in space where different waves superimpose.
Would the constructive interference between gravity waves be significant enough to account for 'dark matter'? And what would destructive interference look like (dark energy?)
- klodolph 10y agoGravity waves are caused by moving objects, and the waves themselves move. So if you did see constructive interference between gravity waves, it would be temporary. Gravity waves also tend to be extremely small, small enough that it was only this year (2016) that we were finally able to detect them (at LIGO). Here's a video of what standing waves look like in water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpEevfOU4Z8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpEevfOU4Z8
- sloppycee 10y agoAh, so 'Gravitational waves' are ripples in spacetime. But, if gravity itself propagated as a wave (graviton + duality?) could interference explain dark matter/energy?
- powertower 10y agoGravity, in its normal sense (of matter's gravitational attraction), has no frequency or wavelength. Its only property is that of acceleration.
- evanb 10y agoThat's right. Quantum mechanically, potentials are generated by the exchange of off-shell mediators (the clearest explanation I have seen is in Zee's QFT in a Nutshell). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_shell_and_off_shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_shell_and_off_shell