Quote:
Originally Posted by Robh
Ivan,
The evidence for gravity propagating at the speed of light is primarily theoretical and, as far as I know, not proven conclusively by any observational evidence.
Regards, Rob.
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Hi,
Certainly not proven conclusively, true.
Just to add a bit, I had read about the observations of a rare pair of binary pulsars, the orbits of which are decaying. By attributing this to gravitational radiation, or a drag on the orbits due to gravity, we get a speed for gravity the same as c to within 1%. But this is not conclusive yet.
For instance, critics claim that observations like this just confirm the speed of light to be the same as itself!! Rather self-evident.
Then, is the speed of gravity constant, in all circumstances?
After that, is gravity due to a particle which interacts with a field, or something more mysterious? So far we can't find the graviton, and more generally its speed depends on the particular theory you assume for it.
My feeble brain is overwhelmed at that point.
Cheers