Hi Steve,
I hope you don't mind if I share an intuitive thought experiment with you about how gravitons actually work.
Gravitons begin as points from the Planck scale. They expand at the speed of light in all directions such that they obey,
[math]x^2 y^2 z^2 - (ct)^2 = 0[/math]
Which is the equation of a sphere. As these gravitons expand, they are likely to bump into particles. If they do, they can be absorbed into a particle system. The wave function solution to the Schrodinger equation is,... a captured graviton. Since wave functions have operators associated with them for momentum, position and energy, then a captured graviton must have quantum states for position, momentum and energy built into them.
Gravitons that escape particle systems get large very quickly. Within one second, a graviton is already larger than the Earth.
Gravitons larger than t = 10 seconds will overlap to create the spacetime continuum. Since gravitons are made of quantum states,... then the spacetime continuum is really the overlap of a very large number of momentum, position and energy states.
To get a little bit more detailed,... the interior volume of the graviton is filled with quantum states. The surface area of a graviton is a virtual photon unless energized, in which case it would be a real photon.
The potential energy term of the Schrodinger equation acts on the virtual photon surface area of the graviton (the virtual photon) which is itself an electromagnetic field. The result is that the potential energy will deform the shape of the graviton sphere into the wave function solution.
The arrow of time (increasing entropy) postulate gave me the idea that, as you go backwards in time to the first causal event, the entropy will get smaller until it reaches a minimum. By that logic, I think that the first causal event that began the big bang was a single photon of energy E = hf = energy of the big bang. For the tiniest amount of time, the photon energy surrounded a graviton sphere of radius 10^-88 meters. The smallest possible entropy is a single particle inside of a very very small volume.
I am of the opinion that each of the particle quantum fields is made of overlapping gravitons with a size range of ct_1 and ct_2.
I would be happy to explain anything further. Or defend against any criticisms you might have. I hope this intuitive wave of looking at gravitons is easy to understand. It's seems easy as basic geometry to me, with a few definitions thrown in.
A quantum entanglement between two photons would also be... a graviton.
JW