On the Gravitational Effects of Light

TL;DR

This paper explores the gravitational effects of light using quantum mechanics, revealing that the gravitational energy generated by electromagnetic fields is infinite, which challenges existing quantum theories of wave fields.

Contribution

It provides a calculation of the gravitational field produced by electromagnetic fields within quantum mechanics, highlighting a fundamental divergence issue.

Findings

Gravitational energy from electromagnetic fields is infinitely large.

Transition processes involving light and gravitational quanta are briefly discussed.

Highlights difficulties in the Heisenberg-Pauli quantum theory due to infinite energy results.

Abstract

[Translation of and Commentary on L\'eon Rosenfeld's "Ueber die Gravitationwirkungen des Lichtes", Zeitschrift fur Physik 65: 589-599 (1930). Originally published in German. Submitted for publication on September 26, 1930. See [1] in the Comments with References section before reading this English translation.] The gravitational field generated by an electromagnetic field is calculated using of laws of quantum mechanics and it is shown that the resulting gravitational energy turns out to be infinitely large, raising a new difficulty for the Heisenberg-Pauli quantum theory of wave fields. In addition, the transition processes in first-order approximation involving light and gravitational quanta are briefly discussed.