Gravitational acceleration VS the speed of light...

[Accuser]

Three preconceptions for our thought experiment:

 

1. Gravity's effects propagate at a rate faster than the speed of light. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Earth is not thrown out into space due to the constantly shifting position of the Sun and an 8.3 min delay of "gravity waves" pulling us toward the Sun's previous position. Details here: http://metaresearch.org/cosmology/speed_of_gravity.asp

 

2. Gravity increases proportionately to an object's mass.

 

3. There is no functional limit to the distance over which gravity may have an effect (the effect decreasing by the square of the distance, of course).

 

Imagine a Universe with physical laws identical to our own. Imagine it with no matter, anti-matter, energy, etc (excepting what I'll colloquially call "quantum turbulence"). Now imagine 2 very massive bodies which are stationary and extremely far from each other.

 

With only 2 bodies in this Universe, each would eventually experience the other's gravitational effects and begin to accelerate toward the other body. Assume the distance between them is sufficient that there is enough time in their transit to accelerate to near light speed. Relativity states that no body can achieve the speed of light due to the increase of mass and the slowing of local time with increased speed. However, wouldn't increased gravity exactly compensate for the increased mass of acceleration? Is there a reason that these two bodies would not achieve at least gravitational speed, given their initial position was far enough apart?

 

My apologies if this question has already been answered, but I wasn't able to locate an explanation on this or any other site! Thanks for reading!

[Klaynos]

I think (although others are better suited to answer this question than I), that you'd have to apply general relativity (GR) to this situation, in which the speed of gravity is the speed of light, c. I suspect you find that in applying GR the speed limit holds true.

[D H]

Moderation: Thread moved to Pseudoscience.

 

 

Three preconceptions for our thought experiment:

 

1. Gravity's effects propagate at a rate faster than the speed of light. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Earth is not thrown out into space due to the constantly shifting position of the Sun and an 8.3 min delay of "gravity waves" pulling us toward the Sun's previous position. Details here: [crackpot link elided]

You are starting off on a very bad footing, Accuser. Van Flandern, while rather well educated, was nonetheless a crackpot. His notions regarding gravitation were wrong from the start, he was proven wrong multiple times, yet he kept reiterating the same nonsense.

 

In philosophy, mathematics, or science, when you start with a false premise such this very first one, everything conclusion that depends on that false premise is suspect.