From: Paul Grant (shade999@optonline.net)
Date: Sat Jul 12 2003 - 11:54:09 MDT
On Fri, Jul 11, 2003 at 11:48:51PM -0400, Paul Grant wrote:
> That is *very* expensive relative to the manipulation of photons
> (which effectively have very low masses [based on E = mc^2]).
>
> Me: Depends on how you do it :) no doubt an elegant solution is just
> waiting to be found :) At this point, I wouldn't say its impossible,
> or even improbable :) Just that more data is needed :) In any event,
> it certainly is worth examining, if nothing else for the questions it
> would raise....
So, any ideas for this research program? In what ways can we generate
gravitons (if working within the particle physics framework)?
Me: For me personally, a thorough examination of gravity from an
engineering perspective... The first of which is to be
able to differentiate strong existing stellar gravitational signatures.
Another would be the effects of gravity in manufacturing
small-scale structures, or how it affects particularly sensitive physics
experiments (thus necessitating the development
of a robust senstive gravity sensor with a quick rebound period
inbetween sampling). Than there's the really interesting stuff;
orienting an experiment in a fairly uniform gravitational field, and
messing around with it using a smaller amplitude (if you will)
generator and measuring how much you can modulate a large gravitation
wave with a smaller one (in practice), and see if it matches
up with current transmitter construction techniques (algorithmically
speaking)... To be quite honest, there's tons of avenues...
But before I'ld rush off to do all these things, I'ld like to think of a
series of specific experiments that cover the (possible)
analogues between gravity and other phenomena... You know, make sure
they're either like, or not like... Nail down some concrete facts.
IMHO, trying to rapidly graph the gravitational forces in play within a
small plane would be my first attempt...
Then add time, and see how the gravitational field changes with respect
to time :)
In the GR field framework the issue would be to make strong gravity
waves without having a large energy tensor. Maybe that can happen if one
already has a big (complex) gravitational field where small inputs can
be amplified by tapping energy or curvature already existing in the
system. IMHO this sounds less unlikely than the previous approach, but
still not particularly promising.
<grin> see my second post :) I'm not interested in (at least for this
project) generating huge amounts of energy; I'm interested in applying
a small amount of energy at the right point in space, at the right point
in time... Pretty much the major benefit, and hindrance, is the global
reach of gravity; I'ld be extremely interested in say, a directed
gravitational pulse...
> Another really interesting question, which just occurred to me, is:
> does gravity reflect? are their materials which absorb/rebuff
> gravity... or is it all simply a matter of constructive/destructive
> interference sans reflection?
Static gravity fields do not seem to reflect/refract, but there are
indeed some weird goings on for dynamic strong fields. Look at
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SCMS/DigLib/text/astro/Gravitational-Wave-B
lack-Hole-Hobill.html
for example, which shows some nontrivial "refractions" of a gravity
wave.
In general (no no pun intended) you need to learn more about general
relativity in order to say something constructive about gravity. It is
not the simple force we usually assume. Check out the links at
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/relativity.html I especially like Greg
Egan's tutorial
http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/FOUNDATIONS/index.html and the
FAQ at http://www2.corepower.com:8080/~relfaq/relativity.html (which has
a nice treatment of the speed of gravity issue)
Me:
Grin :) Agreed [regarding I need to learn alot more] :)
I'm hoping to study Physics @ berkeley within a year :)
A nice long review of the literature being published
is in the works... I'm planning on taking my time to get
the most out of my degrees.
omard-out
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