Mechanisms behind the manipulation of gravity?

[Guest DHill]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. A little bit of science fiction for your noggin:

 

Suppose, just for a moment, that we can create gravitational fields in ways similar to the ways that we create electric and magnetic fields.

 

Since the 1/r^2 law for gravity is so close to that of a point charge, lets also assume there are other analogies for gravity that there are for E and B fields. So then there exists some neat qualities....

 

1) Coherence

 

How would one go about creating the gravitational equivalent of a laser? Not just on the quantum mechanical scale (simultaneous excitation of gravitons????) but on a large scale. What would be its effect? A laser is measured by its intensity (watts/area)... how would one measure a coherent beam of gravity? I'm thinking pressure (force/area). Would this be like Star Trek's tractor beam? Hmm.

 

2) Waves

 

Would an accelerating mass introduce gravity waves it the same way that an accelerating charged particle produces radiation? Could an oscillating large-scale mass source be such a mechanism for the creation of gravity waves? How are these waves represented phsyically?

 

3) Static Fields

 

Assuming that one has two sources, could one set up an interference pattern between two gravitational sources such that there is destructive interference everywhere except for at one point, where the two create a static field?

[Dave]

Until we discover the graviton (and indeed a way to manipulate it) we won't know either way.

[Guest DHill]

dave said in post #2 :

Until we discover the graviton (and indeed a way to manipulate it) we won't know either way.

 

Yeah. That's a bummer.