A Constructive Model of Gravitation

摘要

This paper explores whether gravitation is mediated by force fields, and, if so, whether it can explain known gravitational phenomena. In conformity with the historical practice, the paper presents a physical model in which gravitational forces between objects are mediated by those force fields that are associated with the mass and momentum properties of the objects. The model explains: Gravitational forces between masses, between mass and light, between photons, and between electromagnetic waves; and Gravity's effect on time periods of atomic clocks, shifts in spectral lines, the emission and propagation of light, and lengths of material rods. It addresses Mercury's orbital precession rate and the Pioneer anomaly. It derives Larmor's formula for gravitational radiation power from accelerating masses and applies it to estimate gravitational radiation power emissions from the moon, the planets, and the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsars. It advances suggestions for detecting gravitational radiation and measuring its speed. The model makes new predictions: Gravitational forces can be attractive or repulsive; Electromagnetic waves gravitationally interact, so do photons; the Classical gravitational constant is not universally constant; Rods get longer when closer to the mass; and Accelerating masses generate gravitational radiation power with angular distribution of a four-lobed quadrupole pattern and which propagates at less than the speed of light.