Discussing a Theory

[Hofi]

Hello,

I set up a theory about the effect of space-time on our view of massive objects. In general it says that more massive objects appear to be smaller than they really are because they bend space-time outwards. I recently wrote a small blog entry about this and want to know what you think about this theory... Thanks!

Clear Skies!

[Chris Peterson]

I set up a theory about the effect of space-time on our view of massive objects. In general it says that more massive objects appear to be smaller than they really are because they bend space-time outwards. I recently wrote a small blog entry about this and want to know what you think about this theory... Thanks!

To be a valid theory, you also need to discuss how it could be tested. Also, I think that it is impossible to have a theory involving a consequence of GR without including a mathematical analysis.

As a matter of practical observation, I'd note that there are only a couple of stars other than the Sun for which we are able to directly measure diameter, and these stars, while more massive than the Sun, may actually have a smaller gravitational field at the edge of their photosphere. When it comes to the distortion of spacetime by mass, we usually only see significant effects when the fields are very large, which doesn't require large masses (and neither do large masses typically produce large gravitational fields). Large fields are the result of high density objects- mainly black holes.