Essay Abstract

Gravito-electromagnetism (GEM) describes the gravitational phenomena by introducing a gravitational field that can be viewed as a combination of two fields: a force field and an induction field. It is assumed that this composite field - that serves as a mediator for the gravitational interactions - is isomorphic with the electromagnetic field. In this essay we will show that the GEM-description of gravitation can perfectly be explained by the hypothesis that "information carried by informatons" is the substance of the gravitational field. Our starting point is that any material object manifests itself in space by emitting "informatons": granular mass and energy less entities running away with the speed of light and carrying information about the position and the velocity of their emitter. We will show that the cloud of informatons emitted by a material object constitutes its gravitational field.

Author Bio

Antoine Acke is a civil electro technical engineer (1962 - Ghent University - Belgium). Until his retirement he was active as a professor in electrical and electronic engineering at Kaho Sint-Lieven, a university college in Ghent. His interest in the foundations of physics resulted in the development of the "theory of informatons", a theory about gravitation and electromagnetism.

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  • Post #2

These masses that emit informatons.... how is it that they attract and don't repel other masses?

    According to the postulate of the emission of informatons (§2) the g-index of an informaton emitted by a point mass M at rest, is represented by a vector "s-g" that points to the position of the emitter.

    In §3.1, it is shown that "E-g" , the gravitational field of M, is the macroscopic manifestation of "s-g", what implies that "E-g" also should point to M.

    In §3.2 is demonstrated that the characteristic symmetry of the "own" gravitational field of a point mass m located in a point P of the gravitational field of M is disturbed and that "E-g" in P is a measure for the extent of that disturbance.

    To become blind for that disturbance, m should accelerate with an amount "a" = "E-g", what implies that m is attracted by M.

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    • Post #4

    Dear Mr. Acke,

    Can you kindly show how your "information carried by informatons" theory of gravity can explain the following well known experimental tests?

    1) Time delay in radar sounding.

    2) Deflection of light.

    3) Perihelion advance.

    4) Spectral shift.

    5) Geodesic effect.

    Clearly, if your theory cannot explain such tests, it must be immediately ruled out.

    Thanks and regards,

    P.

      Dear Mr. Planck,

      The theory of informatons explains the GEM-description of gravity and so, indirectly, the gravitational phenomena (included those mentioned by you) that can be explained as gravito-electromagnetic effects.

      This is shown in numerous articles you can find on ArXiv (Search under "gravitoelectromagnetism"). For example:

      - arXiv:gr-qc/0207065: Gravitomagnetic Effects (M. Ruggiero, A. Tartaglia)

      - arXiv:gr-qc/0304104: Advance of Mercury Perihelion explained by Cogravity (C. de Matos, M. Tajmar).

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      • Post #6

      Dear Mr. Acke,

      Thanks for your kind reply.

      Kind regards,

      P.

      Professor Antoine,

      After reading every word of it four times, I have no idea what essay is about. According to the abstract, "Gravito-electromagnetism (GEM)" is not a real condition. Whatever it is, it merely "describes" (although it is you who is the culprit for trying incomprehensibly to describe it) "gravitational phenomena by only introducing" (and never really establishing) "a gravitational field that can be viewed" (by whom? How? Where? When? With what? For how long?) "as a combination of two fields:" (How counted?) "a force field and an induction field." (How forceful? How inductive??

      Proven real fact: each snowflake is unique. One can observe snowflakes any time it snows.

      Dear Mr. Joe,

      To describe the gravitational phenomena and to formulate the gravitational laws, GEM (Heaviside, Jefimenko, ...) introduces a vector field that is analoguous to the EM field: a combination of two fields. "E-g" - the "gravitational field" - is analogue to "E", the electric field; and "B-g" - the "gravitational induction" or "cogravity" - is analogue to the magnetic induction "B". "B-g" takes the kinetic effects of gravity into account.

      GEM considers that composite gravitational field as a mathematical construction, as an element of our thinking about nature, that itself doesn't belong to the physical world.

      In the essay we show that - by introducing "information carried by informatons" - that field and its effects on matter can be understood as a substantial element of nature. We explain it as the macroscopic manifestation of "informatons": granular mass and energy less entities emitted by the material objects, carrying information about the position and the velocity of their emitter and running through space with the speed of light.

        Professor Antoine,

        In other words, you have unnecessarily inflicted upon us another dollop of physics abstract mumbo-jumbo. The point of this essay contest as I understood it was to present our respective views concerning information as it related to reality. You seem to have only presented enough information as it relates to your occupation.

        8 days later

        Hey Antoine!

        I think that the essay addresses the fundamental question of how o progress in physics with the concept of information quite well. The expressions for Planck's constant and the formal reduction to Newton's law of force seemed to fit well! I especially liked the mathematical treatment of the concepts with the basic figure-drawn math. It reminded me vaguely of the popular explanatory examples of Special Relativity in that sense. I do think that it is is a mistake to cancel out the gravity field when considering the force between two moving particles. This is such because I can not see the motion of one particle vanishing in its entirety. Because of its spherical shape, if it was extended, it seems to me that no reference point could be taken that doe not have some part of the information circle curved or surrounded by the particle. Particularly, the statement leading to the assumption directly before section 5 that

        "Accelerating this way has the effect that the extern(al?) gravitational field is cancelled in the origin of the reference frame anchored to m2"

        is not the right way to do business. Besides this, I found the essay to go over more of the grit and grunt work of dealing with information than others, perhaps. Please clear this up or defend your position.

          Hello William,

          Thanks for your comments on my essay.

          In §4 it is shown how the composite gravitational field intermediates in the interaction between particles that are moving relative to an inertial reference frame. For practical reasons ("the body of the essay may not exceed 9 pages") the discussion is limited to the case of particles whose speeds can be neglected compared to the speed of light. In §5.2 of the article "GRAVITATION EXPLAINED BY THE THEORY OF INFORMATONS" (reference 6 - direct link) the interaction between moving masses is treated in a more general context. It turns out that the force between two moving masses according to the theory of informatons perfectly agrees with that based on S.R.T. (§5.2.4.2).

          The statement

          "Accelerating this way has the effect that the external gravitational field is cancelled in the origin of the reference frame anchored to m2"

          is based on the principle of equivalence. From that principle it follows that if a body is in a uniform gravitational field and is at the same time accelerating in the direction of that field with an acceleration whose magnitude equals that due to the field, particles in such a body will behave as though they are in an inertial reference frame with no gravitational field.

          According to the principle of equivalence, a uniform gravitational field in an inertial reference frame {O} is cancelled if it is observed in a reference frame {O'} that is accelerating in the direction of the field with an acceleration whose magnitude equals that due to the field.

          Because the g-field in a point of a gravitational field in the essay is identified as the density of the flow of g-information in that point, there can be no transport of g-information in the accelerated reference system {O'}. This implies that the g-index of the informatons should be cancelled in {O'}.

          In the attachment#1 "INFLUENCE OF THE ACCELERATION OF THE REFERENCE SYSTEM ON THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD" we show that this is indeed the case.Attachment #1: FXQi__attachment_1.pdf

          17 days later

          Dear Uncle Acke

          So,we can be defined for information is :The absorption and transmission the impact of material,or not ?

          http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1802

            Hallo Dear Mister Hoang cao Hai,

            Can you, please, formulate your question more clearly?

            16 days later

            Antoine,

            If given the time and the wits to evaluate over 120 more entries, I have a month to try. My seemingly whimsical title, "It's good to be the king," is serious about our subject.

            Jim

            15 days later

            Dear Antoine,

            I truly enjoyed your insight and 'theory of informatons' hypothesis as stated in your essay. Although you have a different approach than I do, I find your analytical approach inspiring and most worthy of merit and so have rated it accordingly.

            Best wishes to you and your work and I hope you do well in the competition.

            Regards,

            Manuel

            Dear Manuel,

            I thank you very much for your kind comment and wishes.

            Regards,

            Antoine.

            5 days later

            Dear Professor Acke

            Thank you for your message. I have read your essay and see that you have developed the mathematics of your interesting magnetogravitation quite thorougly. In 'my' phyics I always try to imagine a model visually and mechanically, so I tried to imagine what the Electric density and The Magnetic density and the Information field in your theory can look like.

            In principle I completely agree with you that gravity and electromagnetism are one and the same phenomena. In my 2005 Beautiful Universe Theory also found here I described heuristically how the same lattice of rotating universal building blocks or nodes can describe e/m, electrostatics and gravity. In your theory you assume virtual 'informatons' that implement the gravitational force. In my theory node-to-node transfer of angular velocity is the only energy needed. Perhaps in a deep sense our theories can be found to be similar. One difference is that the transfer occurs at a maximum speed of light but slows down as in an optical field, when gravity is strong, while your informatons always travel at 'c'.

            My BU theory is based on a United Dipole Field theory where electromagnetic, gravitational and quantum fields are essentially the same. It can be found on my website as well as on ArXiv.

            You mention a 'corkscrew' effect in your field - is it responsible for the e/m right-hand rule? And if so how is it physically implemented?

            I wish I had your mathematical skill to describe my ideas - and I am also envious of your being in Ghent - a city I visited and loved in the early 1960's. When I found the youth hostel closed and I had to spend the night walking around and admiring the colorfully lit medieval architecture. Also the unforgettable sorrowful face of Mary in the Man Van Smarten painting.

            With best wishes

            Vladimir

              Dear prof. Antoine,

              I have down loaded your essay and soon post my comments on it. Meanwhile, please, go through my essay and post your comments.

              Regards and good luck in the contest,

              Sreenath BN.

              http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1827

                Dear Vladimir,

                Thanks for your comments on my essay and for your remarks about my "Theory of Informatons" that is developed thouroughly in ref 6 and in ref 7. In the frame of that theory, the concept "information" has a specific meaning.

                1. When we say that it is the substance of gravitational and electromagnetic fields, we mean that "information carried by informatons" makes these fields what they are: not just mathematical constructions but elements of the natural world.

                2. The constituent element of that substance is called an "informaton". The theory starts from the hypothesis that any material object manifests itself in space by emitting informatons at a rate that is proportional to its rest mass: the rest mass is the only factor that determines the rate at which an object emits informatons. Informatons run through space with the speed of light.

                3. The fundamental attribute of an informaton is called its "g-index". The g-index of an informaton refers to information about the position of its emitter. It is the only attribute of an informaton emitted by an electrically neutral object at rest. It is represented by a vectorial quantity {s-g} that points to the emitter and whose magnitude is the "elementary quantity of g-information". Macroscopically, the density of the flow of g-information in a point is identified as the "g-field" {E-g}.

                4. Informatons emitted by an electrically charged object at rest have moreover an attribute that refers to information about the electrical status of their emitter. This attribute is called the "e-index". The e-index of an informaton refers to information about the sign of the charge, about the position and about the ratio of the quantity of charge Q to the mass m of its emitter. The e-index is represented by a vectorial quantity {s-e} that is on the line connecting the informaton with its source, the magnitude of {s-e} is proportional to Q/m. Macroscopically, the density of the flow of e-information in a point is identified as the "e-field" {E}.

                5. An object at rest emits informatons whose g-index (and whose e-index) has the same direction as their velocity {c}. This is no longer the case when the emitter is moving. How greater the speed of the emitter, how greater the deviation of {s-g} (and of {s-e}) relative to {c}: this deviation is characteristic for the speed of the emitter. The additional attribute of an informaton referring to g-information about the status of motion of its emitter is called its "beta-index" ("b-index" in relation to e-information). The beta-index is represented by a vectorial quantity {s-beta} that is perpendicular to the plain ({s-e},{c}) ("corkscrew effect"), the magnitude of {s-beta} is proportional to the component of the velocity of the emitter that is perpendicular to the velocity of the informaton. The analogue attribute in relation to e-information is called the "b-index" {s-b}. Macroscopically,the density of the cloud of beta-information in a point is identified as the g-induction {B-g}, and the density of the cloud of b-information as the magnetic induction {B}.

                6. The theory of informatons explains gravitational and electromagnetic forces as the reaction of a material object on the disturbance of the characteristic symmetry of its "own" cloud of g/e-information by the flux of g/e-information emitted by other objects. There is no mechanical interaction between informatons and matter: informatons are mass and energy less entities.

                7. The theory of informatons explains why gravitational and electromagnetic fields are isomorphic. From its starting points it follows that its scope is limited to the spacetime of the SRT and that its results are in line with this theory.

                From 5 and 6 it follows that the interaction between moving masses/charges is governed by the "right-hand rule".

                I wish I had your talent to describe my ideas in a less mathematical way and with more imagination. My style is the result of my studies in the applied sciences at the University of Ghent in the period when you visited our historic city with its numerous monuments and works of art.

                With the best wishes,

                Antoine