Where does a photon distort spacetime?

[foolish1]

Lets say I have a very low energy photon moving through space and I want to visualize how space-time is effected by the motion of the photon thru space.

Photons are supposed to be quantized.. If it were possible to build a machine to measure the "gravitational" effect of a single photon would it follow the shape of the wave at each point as it traveled thru space? Would it deform the whole region of the packet? What would it look like if you drew it out?

 

[Drakkith]

I'm not sure, but i did find this old thread about it.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=6500

 

[Dale]

We don't have a quantum theory of gravity yet. However, if you are willing to discuss classical pulses of light instead of photons then you should look into pp-wave spacetimes.

 

[Naty1]

not a simple question...
Following Dalespams post:

Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pp-wave_spacetime

and for an analogy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_waves

but note the plane wave illustration is in space not spacetime...

and there is a general animated illustration of a gravitational wave here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave
for reference and perspective.

 

[sardar]

I would like to clarify that photons do not have a direct gravitational effect on spacetime. Rather, they are affected by the curvature of spacetime caused by massive objects. This is known as the curvature of light or gravitational lensing.

In the scenario described, the low energy photon would follow a straight path through spacetime, but the path itself would be curved due to the presence of massive objects. This is because mass causes spacetime to curve, and the photon follows the curvature of spacetime as it travels through it.

If a machine were built to measure the gravitational effect of a single photon, it would not follow the shape of the wave at each point as it travels through space. Instead, it would measure the curvature of spacetime caused by the photon's interaction with massive objects.

Drawing out this scenario would show a curved path of the photon, with the curvature becoming more pronounced as it approaches a massive object. This is because the gravitational effect of the massive object becomes stronger as the photon gets closer to it.

In summary, while photons themselves do not distort spacetime, they are affected by the curvature of spacetime caused by massive objects. This can be visualized as a curved path of the photon as it travels through space.