One of the biggest problems in theoretical cosmology is understanding why we have been unable to observe the Graviton or the quantum of gravitational force. Some have attributed this to the fact that its interaction with matter is not strong enough to be detected by modern instrumentation.
However the reason may be because gravity is not propagated by a particle such as a photon but by field properties of space.
The currently accepted view among most cosmologist and physicist is that all forces mediated by particles. This viewpoint is support the success the Standard Model of Particle Physics has had in explaining and predicting the observed properties of electromagnetic energy, weak, and strong nuclear forces in terms of particles. It makes very accurate and verifiable predictions of the nature and causality of those forces in terms of particle interactions.
However it falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions because it cannot or does not incorporate the full theory of gravitation as described by General Relativity. This is because Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity derives gravity in terms of a continuous curvature in the field properties of four-dimensional space-time and not in terms of the discontinuous properties of the quantum.
This fact makes it extremely difficult to conceptually integrate them because something that is discontinuous cannot be by definition continuous.
However it may be possible to integrate gravity with the particle properties of the forces defined in the Standard Model if instead of assuming they are propagated by particles one assumes that the particle properties of all forces are propagated by the fields.
It is easier to explain the mechanism responsible for creating the gravity or quantum of gravitational force by redefine Einstein’s space-time universe into one consisting of only four *spatial* dimensions.
(The reason will become obvious latter in the article)
Einstein gave us the ability to do this when he used he used equation of E=mc^2 and the constant velocity of light to defined gravity in terms geometric properties of space-time because it allows one to convert a unit of time in his space-time universe to a unit of space. Additionally because the velocity of light is constant it is possible to defined a one to one correspondence between his space-time universe and one made up of four *spatial* dimensions.
In other words by defining the geometric properties of a space-time universe in terms of the constant velocity of light he provided a qualitative and quantitative means of redefining his space-time universe in terms of the geometry of four *spatial* dimensions.
However it allows one to define a physical mechanism that would responsible creating a particle or quanta of space-time in terms of the field properties of four *spatial* dimensions.
For example the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” Oct. 4, 2007 showed it is possible to explain the discontinuous properties of space by extrapolating the laws classical resonance in a three-dimensional environment to a matter wave on a continuous “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
The existence of four *spatial* dimensions would give a matter wave the ability to oscillate spatially on a “surface” between a third and fourth *spatial* dimensions thereby fulfilling one of the requirements for classical resonance to occur.
These oscillations would be caused by an event such as the decay of a subatomic particle or the shifting of an electron in an atomic orbital. This would force the “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension to oscillate with the frequency associated with the energy of that event.
The oscillations caused by such an event would serve as forcing function allowing a resonant system or “structure” to be established in four *spatial* dimensions.
Classical mechanics tells us the energy of a resonant system can only take on the discrete or quantized values associated with its resonant or a harmonic of its resonant frequency
Therefore these discrete or quantized energy of resonant systems in a field consisting of four *spatial* dimensions would be responsible for the particle characteristics the standard model associates with the propagation of gravity electromagnetic energy, weak, and strong nuclear forces.
However, it does not explain how or why we observed them in terms of discontinuous properties of a particle instead of the continuous properties of a field as the above theoretical model and Einstein Theories predicts we should.
In classical physics, a point on the two-dimensional surface of paper is confined to that surface. However, that surface can oscillate up or down with respect to three-dimensional space.
Similarly an object occupying a volume of three-dimensional space would be confined to it however, it could, similar to the surface of the paper oscillate “up” or “down” with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
The confinement of the “upward” and “downward” oscillations of a three-dimension volume with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension defines the mechanism responsible for the quantization of the field properties of space associated with energy/mass in the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?“.
Quantum mechanics defines the smallest possible unit of space and increment of energy in terms of Planck’s length “h” while defining the size of an individual quantum of force in terms of the equation E = h c / L.
In other words the physical size of the fundamental quanta of all forces is not the same as is suggest by the Standard Model of Particle Physics and quantum mechanics but varies with their energy and the higher energy there is the smaller its volume.
However this means the length and therefore the volume of a Graviton would be considerably larger when compared to the volume associated with a quantum unit of the electromagnetic weak or strong forces because of its relatively low energy content with respect to theirs.
The theoretical evidence to support this conclusion is provided by the fact that the energy of a quantum of force is mathematically defined by its frequency and wavelength. This means a higher energy particle with a shorter wavelength would occupy a smaller volume than lower energy ones.
Observational evidence can be found in the fact that quanta of the strong and weak forces can only be observe in particle accelerators capable of generating the energy required to magnify their environment enough to allow for us to observe them.
In other words the reason why we can observe quanta of the strong and weak forces is because we can create experimental apparatus that can magnify the environment to the point where they become visible.
While a quantum of a less energetic electromagnetic force associated with visible light is observable because it size is comparable to the size to the sensing apparatus in the cones and rods in the eyes use to detect it.
However electromagnetic forced is about a million billion billion billion billion (10^42) times stronger than gravitational.
Using the same logic one reason why we have been unable to observe a Graviton may be because we have been unable to construct an observing platform a million billion billion billion billion (10^42) larger than the one need to observe quanta of electromagnetic force of the same strength.
However the relatively large size of a Graviton or an individual quanta of gravity predicted by quantum mechanics suggests another reason why we have been unable to observe it.
We know from observations that gravitational forces act on much smaller scales than the physical size of an individual Graviton predicted by quantum mechanics. However this means that we should observe that the orbital energy of objects should also be quantized.
Some may disagree by saying that the size of the quantum unit of gravitational force is too small relative to the mass of objects that the effect of its quantization would be unobservable.
However the equation that defines the size of a Gravitron ( E = h c / L ) tells us that it would relatively large with respect to the orbits of many of the observable planets. Additionally the force of gravity is always attractive or only acts in one direction therefore the effects of its quantization would be cumulative
In other words if gravity is propagated by the graviton the cumulative effects over the life of the universe should be observable with the increased sensitivity and high resolution of modern instrumentation.
Therefore one must assume that Einstein was correct we he defined gravity in terms of its field and not the quantum properties of space-time because if it was propagated by the Graviton then quantum mechanics tells us due to its relative large size that we should have observed discrete regions of space where orbits of stars planets and moons are not found.
This strongly suggest the reason why we have been unable to observe a Graviton is because gravity is not propagated it but by the field properties of space.
Later Jeff
Copyright Jeffrey O’Callaghan 2013