Howdy folks,
Just got out of a colloquim on Gravitoelectrodynamics given by a Dr. Torr.
Wow! Looks like some interesting stuff going on. They are putting
General Relativity together with Electrodynamics. Cool stuff! They've
worked out analogs of Maxwell's equations for use with Gravitation.
Well, you guys know about colloquia, you pick up what little you can.
So I just thought I'd give my impression on what he was saying. Don't
Crucify me if there is a Gravitation PhD out there! (Hey! I'm only a
1st quarter grad student)
Right. In Electodynamics, you have a force due to a static charge (Static
electricity) and a force due to a moving charge (Magnetism) Well, by analogy
a static mass has a gravitational force due to its mass (The one we
experience every day) and a gravitational force due to its movement.
Well, you'd need a mass moving Very fast to get a Magnetic equivalent to
gravitation, but it could be measurable inside a superconductor. The
speed of gravitation (that they used was u*c {that is supposed to be a mu but
there are no greek letters on here}) So you could create a gravitational
field!
My knowlege of superconductors is limited so that's about where I got lost.
This would indicate your space craft would have some sort of superconducting
shield around the inside of the hull to create your artificial gravity.
Since the speed of gravitation depends on the permittivity of the medium, it
might be possible to reflect grav waves within the hull creating a standing
wave of gravitation, if so, your gravitation field would not extend far
beyond the hull.
Now that I think of it imagine varying the permittivity in such a way... that
you'd get gravitational lenses! (Anybody remember the design I put out for
the lab ship with a gravitational telescope?) Also, by verying permittivity
you might get such oddities as a gravitational equivalent to a doppler shift.
Can you imagine a gravitational equivalent to cherenkov radiation? WOW!
(non physics folks: A Gravitational Sonic Boom!) Wierd huh?
Hey maybe TL9 isn't that far away!
Scott Kellogg