Picture a line of marbles that are interconnected by springs, forming a line alternating between marble and spring over and over. Information simply cannot move from one region in space to another region in space without some time delay. The speed of light should not be thought of as a characteristic of light specifically but should rather be thought of as a sort of "speed limit" of the universe. Sam Cohen, Physics Student, LGS, Leeds, England Nevertheless, it should be remembered that we can only observe the Universe at relatively low energies, and we do not know how the forces behave at very high energies. Whether the very weak gravitational force will follow this trend is unknown and a quantum theory of gravity is first required. This has already be shown to be true for the electromagnetic and weak nuclear force, which are now often referred to as the electroweak force. Hence it is the case that 'gravity waves', which can be viewed as simply consisting of coherent states of many gravitons, are not that the same as electromagnetic waves, can be viewed as simply consisting of coherent states of many photons, because photons and gravitons are fundamentally different.Īs a final note, it should be noted that some Physicists believe that the four forces will, in fact, be shown to be different low energy variations of the same phenomenon when viewed at very high energies, meaning all four forces are actually the same. This is easily seen by the extreme difference in strength between the two forces (a small fridge magnet can hold a mass against the entire gravitational force of the planet). Transmission velocity - c (speed of light) for bothĬharge coupling - 2.31x10-28 Jm for photon, 1.87x10-64 Jm for graviton String Theory - open string for photon, closed string for gravitonĪs you can see, many of the more commonly known, superficial properties of the two bosons are identical, but this fails to hold for a number of other properties that cause the two bosons, and so the two forces, to be very different. The reason for any uncertainty and assumption here is because the graviton is yet to be observed (this would be expected because gravity is by far the weakest force, making the graviton most difficult to observe).īy comparing the fundamental properties of these bosons, it is clear that photons and gravitons are different, although they do share some of the same properties. The boson responsible has become known as the graviton, and again has a number of distinguishing properties. These photons have a number of distinguishing properties.Įqually, although the Standard Model does not formally include gravity, it is currently accepted that the gravitational force must be transmitted in the same way as the other forces. The Standard Model regards all electromagnetic radiation, which comprises the 'electromagnetic spectrum' and is responsible for the electromagnetic force, as consisting of discrete quanta (particles) known as photons. The model regards all forces as being 'transmitted' by a type of particle known as bosons, which are exchanged between particles in order to transmit a force. Modern Physics has now accepted something known as the Standard Model as a description of all fundamental particles and three of the four fundamental forces that act between these particles (electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force). Put simply, the answer to your question is no, although the electromagnetic force has some similarities to the gravitational force. I have read that gravity waves travel at the speed of light does this mean that gravity waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum?
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