Generalization of Netwonian gravity - Jefimenko's theory of gravitation

In summary, Oleg Jefimenko has created a theory of gravity which is compatible with the laws of conservation of energy and momentum, predicts the existence of gravitational waves, and suggests that the actual mass of the universe may be much larger than what is revealed by analysis of gravitational attraction in galaxies. This book contains examples of applications of this theory.
  • #1
dipole
555
151
I'm taking a course in general relativity, it's a beautiful theory and I personally have no reason to doubt it's validity. However, I also recently stumbled upon and alternative theory of gravitation which was worked out by Oleg Jefimenko and is published in the following book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/091740615X/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I'm off campus and don't have access to journals for the weekend, but I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about this work? The following excerpt from the review has me intensely curious about the idea:


The generalized theory of gravitation is fully compatible with the laws of conservation of energy and momentum. A very important result of this compatibility is the definitive explanation of the process of conversion of gravitational field energy into the kinetic energy of bodies moving under the action of gravitational fields.

The generalized theory of gravitation predicts the existence of gravitation-cogravitational waves and explains how such waves can be generated.

The generalized theory of gravitation also indicates the existence of antigravitational (repulsive) fields and mass formations. A cosmological consequence of such fields and mass formations is a periodic expansion and contraction of the Universe. Another consequence is that the actual mass of the Universe may be much larger than the mass revealed by an analysis of gravitational attraction in the galaxies.

It is natural to compare the various consequences of the generalized theory of gravitation with the consequences of the general relativity theory. In this regard the following three remarks should be made.

First, there are no observable gravitational effects revealed by the general relativity theory that do not have their counterparts in the generalized theory of gravitation.

Second, the generalized theory of gravitation describes a vastly larger number of gravitational effects than those described by the general relativity theory.

Third, numerical values for gravitational effects predicted by the general relativity theory are usually different from the corresponding values predicted by the generalized theory of gravitation; the difference is almost always a consequence of greater complexity and depth of gravitational interactions revealed by the generalized theory of gravitation.

Although this book presents the results of original research, it is written in the style of a textbook and contains numerous illustrative examples demonstrating various applications of the generalized Newtonian theory of gravitation developed in the book.

It seems what Jefimenko has done is to make Newtonian gravity consistent with the principle of causality, and in the process introduced a "new" (not new in general relativity, but I believe new in the context of Newtonian gravity) gravimagnetic field.

I'm considering buying this book and reading it for myself, but I'd like to find out a little more first.

For a start, I'd be very very curious if his theory predicts gravitational lensing and gravitational time dilation - both well observed phenomena which it seems any theory of gravity should contain, and which seem fundamental to the idea of a curved space time, I think it'd be a very big deal if you could create these effects without invoking a metric theory.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
His third remark would seem to immediately invalidate the theory, unless the differences are too small to be measured. I also don't see how this is any different from Maxwell-esque gravitomagnetism, which is a weak-field approximation of GR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitomagnetism.
 

Related to Generalization of Netwonian gravity - Jefimenko's theory of gravitation

1. What is Jefimenko's theory of gravitation?

Jefimenko's theory of gravitation is an alternative theory to Newtonian gravity proposed by Oleg D. Jefimenko in 2006. It states that the gravitational force between two objects is not instantaneous, but rather a result of the interaction of their electric fields.

2. How does Jefimenko's theory differ from Newtonian gravity?

Jefimenko's theory differs from Newtonian gravity in that it takes into account the electric fields of objects and how they interact with each other to produce a gravitational force. In Newtonian gravity, the force is solely determined by the masses and their distance.

3. Is Jefimenko's theory widely accepted in the scientific community?

No, Jefimenko's theory is not widely accepted in the scientific community. It is seen as a controversial and unproven theory, as it has not yet been tested and verified through experiments or observations.

4. What evidence supports or refutes Jefimenko's theory?

Currently, there is no strong evidence to support or refute Jefimenko's theory. Some argue that it could potentially explain certain anomalies in the orbit of Mercury, but this has not been confirmed. Others argue that it contradicts well-established principles of physics, such as the equivalence principle.

5. Are there any practical applications of Jefimenko's theory?

At this time, there are no practical applications of Jefimenko's theory. It is purely a theoretical concept and has not been applied in any real-world scenarios. However, further research and testing may reveal potential applications in the future.

Similar threads

  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
8
Views
1K
Replies
1
Views
353
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
3
Views
784
  • Special and General Relativity
2
Replies
50
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
774
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
2
Views
785
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
5
Views
520
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
27
Views
923
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
22
Views
3K
Back
Top