The Quantum Differences Between Gravity and Electromagnetism

Welcome to part five of the gravity series. To read the other parts, click here and here. Are gravity and electromagnetism (EM) the same? There are some who think they are the same force. There may have been a time in the early universe when all the forces were one force, and, as time passed, the one force evolved into the ones we are familiar with. If gravity and EM are the same, they have some distinct differences we will examine at the quantum and cosmic levels.

In previous posts we discovered that gravity is a field with ever shortening spacetime wavelengths, or, increasing energy as a falling body moves closer to where there is greater mass or energy density. In addition, particle-waves' wave numbers increase. These wave numbers have the same units as curved spacetime. Gravitational acceleration is due to the difference in energy or wave number between an upper surface layer of spacetime and a lower one.

Imagine a particle falling in a gravitational field. We can model this using Schrodinger's equation with a twist: we take the difference between the Hamiltonian in the upper layer and the Hamiltonian in the lower layer:

We want to find the change in wave number (k):

We perform a couple of more steps to get the particle's change in kinetic energy:

If we take the wave number (k) and multiply it by Planck's constant (h-bar) and divide it by the particle's mass, we get the particle's change in velocity (v).

At equation 12) notice that the first term has momentum (p). Here are two kinds of momentum: mv (mass X velocity) and fh/c (frequency X Planck's constant/light speed). Velocity (v) could be a function of one or both of these momenta--or we could have two types of velocity: equations 13 and 14 below are derived from the first term of equation 12).

Equation 13) isn't fully simplified. We want to emphasize that the particle's mass cancels itself. The velocity is the same whether the mass is big or small. We can label this velocity the change in velocity due to gravity (Vg). Take note that momentum is not conserved: a big falling mass has more momentum than a smaller falling mass.

Equation 14) tells a different tale. A change in mass does change the velocity (Ve). Momentum is conserved. This equation fits the EM force.

Equations 13) and 14) reveal that when mass (m) is very large, gravity's influence stays the same; whereas, EM's impact diminishes. When mass (m) is small, EM becomes the dominant force--gravity becomes less significant.

Another key difference between gravity and EM is EM is a function of charge; whereas, gravity is a function of mass or energy density. Gravity attracts but EM obeys Column's law (like charges repel, opposite charges attract).

The crude diagrams below demonstrate EM interactions. When the field arrows are pointing towards each other, particles A and B push apart. When the arrows point away from each other, A and B separate. Particles A and B attract each other when the field lines (arrows) flow in the same direction, as if B is flowing towards A.

The following diagrams show how A and B share gravitational field lines. This sharing causes the energy field between A and B to become more intense than the fields at the far right and left of A and B. A and B want to move away from each other and move closer together. The shared energy between them makes the latter more probable. To see how this works in more detail, click here. As the distance between A and B decreases, the shared energy between them becomes stronger and the gravitational acceleration increases (the inverse square law).

One thing EM and gravity have in common are mass-less bosons. Since they are mass-less, these bosons have unlimited range and they travel at light speed. This raises a troublesome paradox, for we know EM is much much stronger than gravity. How can atoms and molecules ever get together via gravity when their outer-shell electrons have a repulsive force far greater than gravity's attractive force?

Consider two hydrogen atoms that are close together. We fully expect the electrons to repel each other, same goes for the protons. But could the proton in one atom be attracted to the electron in the other? If so, that attraction could, to some extent, cancel the repulsive force. We can use the following equations to see if gravity is stronger or weaker than the net EM repulsive force.

When we crunch the numbers we find that as distance (d) between the atoms increases, the EM force (Fe) drops more quickly than gravity (Fg). In the diagram below, where the atoms are close together, the distance between the electrons is very short compared to the distances between opposite charges, so the repulsive force is strong. This is good news! It means the atoms will remain distinct and separate. It means the ground will be solid beneath your feet.

By contrast, when the atoms are far apart, the different distances between opposites and same-charge particles are less dramatic. The charges cancel each other and gravity dominates.