We normally use electrons to measure or control electricity in conductors. I'm not necessarily talking about electrical currents through conducting materials, or the EM fields they generate. I view matter from the perspective of wave mechanics, and we know that matter consists of waves. As such I have to consider the possibility that all phenomena we see are the result of wave interference. "Particles" of matter themselves may be parts of an interference pattern created by more energetic photons, and that is why they travel slower than the speed of light. There are more complex laws that dictate how they self-assemble into atoms and molecules, but the idea that they are just electromagnetic waves remains. If electromagnetic waves are nothing but electric and magnetic fields, then that must be the basis of any forces that influence them, including gravity.
This recent study seemingly demonstrates that virtual electromagnetic waves, or at least fleeting ones passing between particles, can alter their charge and cause them to attract. We normally don't think of virtual photons as having any electrical effect on normal matter, since we can't see them or touch them. Could this effect have a more large-scale influence on matter? I think it is at least conceivable, given the wave nature of matter. And what are virtual photons, but the low-energy remnants of interference patterns created continuously throughout the vacuum?
Space/Science » in reply to I doubt gravity is in any way electrical.
Not in the sense that most people think of electricity
The whole thread (41 posts)
- Physics news update -- The Casimir Effect Heats Up
- Something's not right.
- There's more to electricity than meets the eye. Photons, too. (n/t)
- Thanks SDF
- It's a stretch,
- Do the electrons of an Atom truly “circle†the atom’s nucleus? If so, aren’t they then in perpetual motion?
- Not really
- re: note that if true, we could then define Energy, Mass, and gravity all in one equation!
- The formula would look something like:
- Do the electrons of an Atom truly “circle†the atom’s nucleus? If so, aren’t they then in perpetual motion?
- I doubt gravity is in any way electrical.
- Gravity
- I think gravity is to weak a force to be THE force that holds or creates or "makes rigid" matter from energy.
- re: I think gravity is to weak a force to be THE force that holds or creates or "makes rigid" matter from energy.
- I think gravity is to weak a force to be THE force that holds or creates or "makes rigid" matter from energy.
- Not in the sense that most people think of electricity
- Gravity