Is there a way to generate gravity, or increase the gravitational pull of an object?

Question

I've been pondering this for a while, and aside from adding more mass in the form of matter, can't (until recently) imagine how it could be done. Of course, I'm a COMPLETE novice in physics, which might explain why. But recently, partly inspired by a friend of mine exploring the same problem, I came up with this idea:

I was told once (and have not verified it) that because E=mc^2, and M=e/2^2, that mass increases as speed increases, and approaches infinity as the speed of light is approached. If this is true (and PLEASE correct me if it's not), and if gravity is proportional to mass, then wouldn't it be theoretically possible for gravity to be "generated" by speeding up matter to extremely high levels? Such as in a particle accellerator?

Yes, this is a longshot, and in my mind a somewhat clumsy idea, at least in our day and age with our current level of technology. But would it work?

Oh, and if anyone else has any ideas, or improvements on the above concept, please do share!

Ok, I just noticed this, so before I get gotten after for it, yes, I miss wrote the second formula. It should be M=e/c^2. Pardon the mistake.

Answer 1

yes. increase the objects mass.

or accelerate the object to a speed approaching the speed of light, and its mass will gradually become infinite, therefore so will the gravitational pull of it.
Mass is a measure of inertia, not the amount of matter contained within an object. An objects inertia increases as speeds approach relativistic speeds, therefore i word it as above, by saying that its mass increases, fully knowing that of course the amount of matter contained in the object remains relatively constant.

If the nature of gravity lies in the existence of the graviton(theoretical) then there may be a way to concentrate them, and artificially manipulate it as we do with electromagnetic and nuclear forces.

but our particle accelerators would have to generate energies far above what we have today, to discover this particle, if it does indeed exist.

Answer 2

Congrats. You have found the one and only way to increase the gravity of an object: by increasing its mass. There is no other known way and IMHO there never will be.

Accelerating something to near light velocity, thus increasing its mass is nothing different than adding mass to the object itself. Gravity does not care (but your energy bill might). There is no difference between rest mass and dynamic mass in general relativity. None. That's why the "mass term" in Einstein's equations is called a Stress-Energy-(Momentum)-Tensor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-momentum_tensor_%28general_relativity%29

One of it's sixteen elements describes the energy/mass density, three are the energy flux, three are the momentum density and nine are the momentum flux. Yep...

If something flows, in General Relativity if shows!

Sorry for the bad poetry, but that is how it is and you are just about 90 some years late with your insight. Einstein was here!

But in any case, your observation is perfectly correct and your intuition is great! You might want to consider studying physics for real. I mean it. You might really enjoy getting to hear the real story rather than just labor along on your own.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

You're basically correct. The source of gravity is mass/energy. The only limitation on what you suggest is the absolutely ridiculous amount of mass/energy you need to produce a noticable g-field. And it's going to cost you a lot of energy dragging all that mass around with you everywhere you go.

It's far easier to simulate gravity via a pseudoforce by accelerating or using centrifugal force.

Answer 4

Not quite the answer you are seeking but the principle of equivalence has gravity and acceleration as indistinguishable by the observer in a closed system. So you can always fake it by using acceleration and no one would ever know!

[seems like I've just been beaten to this response ;) ]

Answer 5

Sure, why not? In the future the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D could have what seems like recirculating heating pipes at the bottom of the ship that are actually carrying fluids moving at relativistic speeds, thus generating artificial gravity.

Addendum: Hey, it's science fiction. Anyway, the idea of using spinning wheels for aritifical gravity in space is now a pretty much discredited one. Not that it doesn't work, but that it's just too impractical. Unless it's done at the scale of Arthur C. Clarke's "Rama".

Answer 6

According to one of my professors last spring, a more modern viewpoint on how relativity is treated is this:

Mass doesn't increase as speed increases. The way forces affect a mass is what changes (F = m*a breaks, though F = dp/dt still holds).

The amount of force required to accelerate objects at relativistic speeds increases in such a way that you'd need an infinite force to accelerate something to the speed of light itself.