Tell me more ×
Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

Suppose two parties $A$ and $B$, some distance apart and at rest relative to each other both had control of one massive local object each.

If party $A$ lifted their local object upward relative to $B$, than the total force of gravity on $B$'s mass would angle upwards slightly.

If B then measured this shift in gravitational pull over time a communication wave could be formed between $A$ and $B$.

Wouldn't this communication channel operate instantaneously? How does this not violate the laws of causality with respect to the speed of light?

share|improve this question
Possible duplicate: physics.stackexchange.com/q/26742/2451 – Qmechanic♦ Sep 28 '12 at 5:38
This was pretty much what got Einstein thinking about gravity and prompted him to come up with general relativity after he had developed his theory of special relativity. He realized that Newton's description of gravity was in conflict with the basis of his theory ($c$ is constant and 'the speed limit') so the description of gravity had to be adjusted. And boy did he adjust it. :) – Wouter Jan 19 at 20:30

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Alas, no, the communication would not be instantaneous. This is a valiant attempt, and it's been considered by many people before, since we're mostly all taught Newtonian gravity before we're taught about the speed of light, and the former is then never treated again prior to general relativity.

What happens is the shift in the mass of A causes a disturbance in spacetime (a small perturbation to the background metric) and this disturbance travels outward at a speed no greater than $c$. It's exactly the same as if you moved a charge collection and had someone far away with an electromagnetic receiver (well the GR equations are nonlinear and complicated, but the same principle is at work).

share|improve this answer
1  
I had no idea the influence of gravity traveled at the speed of light. Thanks. Need to read GR I guess. – user1131467 Sep 28 '12 at 3:41
up vote 5 down vote

You won't be able to see the effect immediately, for example if Sun suddenly vanishes, earth will continue in it's orbit for 8 minutes and 12 seconds before it going straight. Gravity travels at the speed of light...

share|improve this answer
See also this Phys.SE post. – Qmechanic♦ Sep 28 '12 at 14:06

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.