Gravity

[lsanderson]

Is gravity not actually a force? Forcing theory to meet experiments ...
Matt Ford

A mind-bending proposal

Dr. Verlinde's proposition is not entirely unique. Others have argued that gravity, instead of being a fundamental force of the Universe, is instead an emergent phenomenon. A good deal of this thinking comes from the fact that the equations that describe gravity (in the Newtonian limit, at least) are mathematically similar to those that describe other emergent phenomena, such as fluid mechanics or thermodynamics. Where Dr. Verlinde goes the next step forward is by arguing for a definite mechanism behind gravity: differences in entropy.

In his freely available manuscript, entitled "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton,"—the title seemingly paying homage to Einstein's famous paper whereby special relativity was laid out—Verlinde sets out his case for why gravity is, as he terms it, an "entropic force." The manuscript uses a combination of the holographic principle and black hole thermodynamics to (re)derive the basic equations of motion that Newton presented over 300 years prior.

Verlinde makes extensive use of the holographic principle in his derivations. He works with a thought experiment that assumes one has a holographic screen—one where all the information about what is contained inside of it is encoded as bits on its surface—and asks how it would interact with matter or energy that is being held just outside of it. More