inter galactic space was told to be occupied by "ether" later i read somewhere that this has been disproven.
my question is "vacuum" = "nothing" (the intergalactic voids)
if this is true then "gravitational force" has to be caused by "some kind of particles rather than waves right"?
2006-08-08 06:24:01 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
In quantum physics, particles are waves and waves are particles. It's weird, don't think too hard about it. Just know that it has been experimentally confirmed.
Gravity is a weird thing. It's caused by the curvature of space in the presence of matter (according to General Relativity - space and time can be curved/warped around massive objects). Gravitons are the particles that carry the gravitational force (according to quantum field theory). So basically, gravitons are the particles (that are also waves) that carry the information to other particles and parts of space telling them how the space is curved and what the particles and other parts of space should do. It's weird, and even though gravitons have not been experimentally verified, they fit very nicely within the theories that have been verified (at least parts of them have been).
But empty space isn't so empty. Vacuum is actually filled with lots of little 'virtual' particles that pop in and out of existance all the time. You can think of vacuum as this very noisey background to the universe that has energy and measurable effects on everyday particles. Yes, the virtual particles have been measured in various ways to exist.
2006-08-08 09:28:37 · answer #1 · answered by Davon 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A vacuum is the absence of physical matter.
Ether was an old idea that was thought to be required for the propogation of light. Light actually travels in quanta, or "packets" of energy.
Gravity is hypothesized to be transmitted by gravitons, however, there is no evidence to support this therory as yet
2006-08-08 06:33:18 · answer #2 · answered by Xander 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gravity is not caused by particles .but it is an force exerted by one body on another at a certain distance attracting each one towards one another and also it doesn't needs any medium ,it can prevail in vaccum too
2006-08-08 06:33:37 · answer #3 · answered by sankardivya1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ether/vacuum is the absence of matter
2006-08-08 07:21:12 · answer #4 · answered by Rajan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
read what I wrote on space fabric and stuff at this link.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApBllCAmjOtRSZhAmk1G9hLzy6IX?qid=20060807133807AAWPAtz
2006-08-08 06:38:14 · answer #5 · answered by sbravosystems 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋