Sunday, June 9, 2002

Could superconductors transmute electromagnetic radiation into gravitational waves?

His analysis, like most discussions of gravitational radiation, proceeds by analogy with electromagnetic radiation. Just as changes in an electric or magnetic field trigger electromagnetic waves, changes in a gravitational field trigger gravitational waves. The analogy is actually quite tight. To a first approximation, Einsteins equations for gravitation are a clone of Maxwells equations for electromagnetism. Mass plays the role of electric charge, the only difference being that its value must be positive (at least in classical physics). Masses attract other masses via a "gravitoelectric" field. Moving masses exert forces on moving masses via a "gravitomagnetic" field. Gravitational radiation entwines gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic fields. Over the years a number of physicists have suggested that if a superconductor can block magnetic fields--giving rise to the famous Meissner effect, which is responsible for magnetic levitation over a superconductor--then it might block gravitomagnetic fields, too. When Chiao adds the gravitomagnetic field to the standard quantum equations for superconductivity, he confirms not only the gravitational Meissner-like effect but also a coupling between the two breeds of magnetic field. An ordinary magnetic field sets electrons in motion near the surface of a superconductor. Those electrons carry mass, and so their motion generates a gravitomagnetic field.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00032353-36AB-1CDC-B4A8809EC588EEDF&catID=2

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