• @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      157 months ago

      I put it in my force balance equations, it’s a force. It doesn’t matter that it’s from curving spacetime rather than exchanging particles, it still exerts force on things.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        27 months ago

        But the point of general relativity is that a free-floating observer is equivalent to an observer in free space. That means that falling due to gravity, which you call a force, is an unaccelerated movement, i.e. no force.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          17 months ago

          If I take a relativistic frame of reference. If I take an ‘absolute’ non moving frame of reference, gravity shows up as a force. I use the later for calculating loads and statics, even though it’s technically not correct. And in that case gravity shows up as a force.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            07 months ago

            I’m not trying to argue approximations. Physics is just approximations all the way down. But as a physicist, I also love arguing about technicalities, and that’s also kinda the point of science communities for me.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        27 months ago

        In our current understanding of physics, it’s an effect from the curvature of space and not a force. Quantizing gravity results in unphysical divergences. Whether there will be a way to model gravity as an exchange of particles, we can’t know for sure. So according to our current knowledge, it’s not a force.

    • @cynar
      link
      English
      77 months ago

      Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit.

      Wisdom is still not putting it in a fruit salad.

      Gravity isn’t a force. Its effects can be mapped to an equivalent pseudo force and used as such. Outside of general relativity, or Quantum mechanics discussions, gravity is a force.

      • @bwrsandman
        link
        English
        27 months ago

        But is it fundamental though?

        • @cynar
          link
          English
          47 months ago

          We don’t know. Right now, relativity and QM fundamentally disagree on what gravity is. Both are also hugely accurate in their predictions. QM treats it as a force comparable to EM or the strong force. GR says it’s space itself moving. The force we experience is just a reaction to us trying to stay still, as space moves through us.

          Beyond that, defining anything as fundamental is a challenge. How are you using fundamental?

    • oce 🐆
      link
      fedilink
      English
      57 months ago

      Depends on your definition. If you stop at quantum mechanics way of defining a force with boson exchange then you may also say gravity doesn’t exist, because it’s not included in the standard model for now.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        17 months ago

        Well, firstly, we can quantize gravity pretty easily, it just has unphysical divergences.

        But secondly, I think it makes most sense to talk about the current accepted physics because we don’t know how quantum gravity will work.

  • Lad
    link
    fedilink
    English
    37 months ago

    Gravy is one of the most fundamental forces