electronicsound Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Skeptic Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Mechanical waves require matter to travel through so they can't travel, for example, through space. Electromagnetic waves interact with charged particles but not with neutral ones. So your answer is, neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane_alien Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 It is more like an electromagnetic wave than a mechanical one. In electromagnetic theory you have an electromagnetic field that lives everywhere. You can solve the theory to produce waves in this field. Now, in general relativity we have a gravitational field, known as the metric. The metric defines the local geometry on the space-time. The equations of gravity are much more complicated that electromagnetic theory. What one can do is linearise them and think about little fluctuations about a flat metric. In doing so we get the wave equation. These little ripples in the metric are the gravitational waves. They are small distortions in the local geometry, akin to the distortions in electromagnetic field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now