Negative Mass - Annotated References and Links


by

Edmond S. Miksch

ed_miksch@yahoo.com

March 22, 2006



         Negative Mass: A Thesis Presented to Reed College by Edmond Miksch: May, 1954.

         This work relates the mass density of space to the divergence of the acceleration field vector (the gravitational field vector). Knowing that mass causes curvature of space, a definition of divergence is employed which can be employed in curved space. The mass density of space is then defined by the following relation, where γ is Newton's gravitational constant and ρ is the mass density:

div a = - 4 π γ ρ

         Force is then defined as mass times acceleration, and the stress tensor of the gravitational field is derived. It is then shown that if a region of space has a positive divergence of the gravitational field, an observer who sees that region accelerate will see a force on it opposite to the direction of its acceleration. Thus, the region has negative mass.

         It is also shown that if some process causes positive mass to be created in a region of space, an equal amount of negative mass must also simultaneously be created.




         Bondi, Herman Negative Mass in General Relativity, Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 29, No.3, July 1957, pp. 423-428. This article is hard to find due to its antiquity, but a summary of the article is provided in the Alternate View Column by John Cramer. Alternate View 14

         John Cranmer notes that Bondi pointed out that "when general relativity is considered purely as a theory of gravity, mass never actually appears. It first appears when the equations are solved in a way devised by the German physicist K. Schwartzschild. Then mass appears as a constant of integration. Bondi noticed that this mass constant could be made either positive or negative. He was able to show that when m is made negative, both inertial and the gravitational mass effects are reversed".



Louis Nielsen A Maxwell Analog Gravitation Theory This web site employs the transformations of special relativity to calculate the gravitational rotation field.    Louis Nielsen's Site

         Louis Nielsen employs the transformation equations for positions, times, velocities and forces of the special theory of relativity. He derives a gravitational rotation field which may be similar to the Coriolis field (but differing by a factor of 2?). In his Equation 64, he shows that the gravitational field has a negative mass density, which causes the gravitational equations to be non-linear. He then provides some discussion of the interaction of positive and negative masses.


From Wikipedia Coriolis Effect This provides a definition and an interesting discussion of the Coriolis field.   Coriolis Site


Pittsburgh Computer Center   Supercomputing Aids Search for Pulsars   Gravitational Radiation Site

         This web site cites experiments by Taylor and Hulse that included observations of a binary pulsar comprised of two neutron stars closely orbiting each other. The experiments show a shortening of the orbital period by 75 microseconds per year. The amount agrees with general relativistic calculations of the energy loss due to gravitational radiation. We find this result puzzling because we believe that gravitational radiation carries negative energy and would tend to energize the radiating masses, increasing their orbital energy and increasing the orbital period. Details of the experiment are presented in   Details of Taylor and Hulse experiments and also in the site   Site discussing Taylor and Hulse's Nobel Prize


California Institute of Technology LIGO   LIGO Site

         This web site provides an index of many pages relating to the LIGO gravity wave detectors, which are located at Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.


European Space Agency LISA   LISA press release

         This web site is a press release relating to the LISA gravity wave detector which will place three detectors five million kilometers apart in space. Each detector will include test masses positioned by controlled electrostatic fields.



         Gary W. Gibbons et al On the Stability of Naked Singularities Gary Gibbons' site This paper provides discussion of various space-time geometries viewed from the perspective of general relativity. Solutions with negative mass are discussed.



         Louis Guillermo The Gravnetic Field Louis Guillermo's Site This site calculates the gravnetic field, apparently the Coriolis field, due to a mass flow. Some neat mathematical methods are used to process relativistic transformations.



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