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Re: Stupid Question related to Bohr Theory



On Tue, 18 Nov 1997, Dr. William Newbolt wrote:

Gang:
Do any of you know if our earth-sun system is a source of
gravitational waves? I am trying to think about this
system like a Bohr atom. It seems like the radius of the
first Bohr Orbit is impossibly small so it seems unlikely
that the earth is in the ground state. Also, the first
Bohr orbit is probably smaller than the Schwarzschildt
Radius. I know that the radiation rate would be very
small, but I would really like to know if, conceptually at
least this system is radiating away energy. Does any one
know? WBN

No one "knows" if the Earth-Sun system is a source of gravitational waves,
but it would be a *major* blow to current theories of gravitation if it
were *not* since it would mean that gravitational radiation does not
exist. OTOH, it is unlikely that those waves will be observed any time in
the near or even fairly distant future because of their exceedingly low
intensity.

John
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A. John Mallinckrodt http://www.intranet.csupomona.edu/~ajm
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