Repulsive quantum gravitoelectric-gravitomagnetic interaction

TL;DR

This paper explores the quantum gravitational interaction between objects with gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic polarizabilities, revealing a distance-dependent, repulsive force that influences the overall interaction potential.

Contribution

It provides the first explicit derivation of the quantum gravitoelectric-gravitomagnetic interaction energy in linearized quantum gravity, highlighting its repulsive nature and distance dependence.

Findings

Interaction energy scales as r^{-8} in near regime

Interaction energy scales as r^{-11} in far regime

Interaction force is repulsive

Abstract

We investigate, in the framework of linearized quantum gravity, the quantum gravitational interaction between a gravitoelectrically polarizable object and a gravitomagnetically polarizable object. This interaction originates from the coupling between the instantaneous mass quadrupole moment and the mass-current quadrupole moment of the objects, induced by fluctuating gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic fields in a vacuum. Using leading-order perturbation theory, we derive the explicit expression of the quantum gravitoelectric-gravitomagnetic interaction energy, which shows a distance dependence of $r^{-8}$ in the near regime and $r^{-11}$ in the far regime, where $r$ is the distance between the two objects. Remarkably, this interaction energy is positive, indicating that the force is repulsive. Since interactions between objects polarizable in the same gravitoelectric or gravitomagnetic manner are inherently attractive, for objects which are both gravitoelectrically and gravitomagnetically polarizable, the overall quantum gravitational interaction potential is reduced when the repulsive quantum gravitoelectric-gravitomagnetic interaction is taken into account. However, for two isotropically polarizable objects with identical gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic polarizabilities and energy level spacing, the repulsive quantum interaction cannot surpass the attractive interactions.