Is the speed of gravity propagation 20000000000 faster than light?

Question

Evidence of infinite gravitational phase speed at zero frequency has been observed by a few researchers by noting the high stability of the earth’s orbit about the sun [15, 16]. Light from the sun is not observed to be collinear with the sun’s gravitational force.
Astronomical studies indicate that the earth’s acceleration is toward the gravitational center of the sun even though it is moving around the sun, whereas light from the sun is observed to be aberated. If the gravitational force between the sun and the earth were aberated then gravitational forces tangential to the earth’s orbit would result, causing the earth to spiral away from the sun, due to conservation of angular momentum. Current astronomical observations estimate the phase speed of gravity to be greater than 2x10^10c.

This was actually the conclusion to an article about an experiment on the phase velocity of near field superluminar propagating electromagnetic fields. Well the writer extends the theory to gravitational fields.

http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0009023

Answer 1

The phase velocity of light can also exceed "c" by a substanitial amount depending on the medium it is propogating through. That does not mean you are moving any energy or signal any faster than light though. The same applies to gravity. General Relativity (GR) predicts that gravity waves propogate through space at the speed of light. GR is a ***very*** well tested theory.

If there was a gravitational analogue in spacetime to a dielectric medium that could alter the phase and group velocity of gravity waves what you ask is possible. However, such environments gravity would presumably behave differently in other ways too. If such an environment existed around the sun, things like the precession of mercury's perihelion would not be what GR predicts. If such an environment existed around PSR 1913+16, the orbital decay would not be consistent with GR.

In the absence of empirical evidence of such environments, I am loathe to presume such environments exist. The words "observed by a few researchers by noting the high stability of the earth’s orbit about the sun [15, 16]" alone do not consitute empirical evidence of such environments. They certainly have not been observed any place where a GR prediction has been tested.

The supplementary info to this question read like an abstract to a paper. Please provide the link. I am not well trained in GR, however I still might be able to find problems in it, or develop a better understanding of what they were actually claiming.

Answer 2

Not necesarily.

If we go to the quantum-mechanical reasoning, everything can have a phase speed faster than light.Ad that includes, paradoxically, light itself.

However, these phase speeds are not really physically observble entities. The physicallly relevant quantities is the product of the phase speed and the complex conjugate of the wave.

The result, the speed is within the speed-of-light limit.

Answer 3

Absurd at highest level.

No established proved teories on gravity except gravity pulls and proprtinal ams and 1/d^2 where the d is the distance. ALl other statements are just statements without proof.

Besides gravity is not an electromagnetic wave. We dont even know what it is ?

Answer 4

yea