The Origin of Gravitation and Electromagnetism
Zhong-Cheng Liang
School of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
Email: zcliang@njupt.edu.cn
Abstract. Assuming that protons and electrons are three-dimensional body particles that have only
mass and volume, the volume repulsion can ensure the finiteness of particle density. A scalar potential
and a vector potential are constructed respectively with the mass density and the momentum density.
A set of particle field equations is derived from the scalar and vector potentials with the help of vector
calculus. The equation set is general field equations in three-dimensional flat space, instead of that in
four-dimensional curved spacetime. It is shown that the particle field includes gradient field, divergence
field and curl field. The gradient field predicts both attraction and repulsion between particles, the
divergence field represents the undulation of particles, and the curl field describes the vortex motion of
the particles. It is proven that gravitation and electromagnetism both originate from the interaction of
body particles. The undulation of pure electronic system represents both gravitational waves and
electromagnetic waves. If graviton and photon are regarded as body particles identical to electron, the
electrons are the dark matter in the background of the universe.
Keywords: Particle, field, interaction, gravitation, electromagnetism
1 Introduction
In 1687, Newton put forward the laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, laid the foundation
of classical mechanics [1]. The gravitational force is directly proportional to the mass of object, and is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between objects. In 1865, Maxwell proposed the
electromagnetic field equations on the basis of his predecessors' work, which laid the foundation of classical
electrodynamics [2]. The electric (magnetic) force is directly proportional to the charge (current) and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between charges (current elements). Despite of this
similarity, gravitation and electromagnetism are regarded as different fundamental interactions because of
the particularity of magnetic force. In classical physics, the gravitational force is thought to be
transmitting through vacuum instantaneously, while the electromagnetic force is considered to be
transmitting through electromagnetic field at a limited speed of light.
In order to maintain the motion invariance of electromagnetic laws, Einstein put forward the special
theory of relativity in 1905 and established the conception that electromagnetism is related to the nature
of time and space [3]. In his general theory of relativity, he further interpreted the origin of gravitation as
the bending of space-time [4]. On the other hand, quantum field theory treats particles as excited states of
their underlying fields. The origin of electromagnetic force is attributed to the exchange of photons. As
messenger particles, photons are point particles that have no mass and volume. The background of
quantum field theory is Minkowski's flat spacetime, the final outcome is that tens of fundamental particles
are needed to explain the electromagnetic, strong and weak interactions in the Standard Model of particle
physics [5]. A number of quantum gravity theories are proposed to deal with the problem of gravitation,
which explain the origin of gravity by the exchange of gravitons between objects [6]. One of them is the
string theory developed from quantum field theory. The unusual aspect of string theory is to expand
particles from zero-dimensional points to one-dimensional strings [7]. The success of string theory is in that
one mode will always correspond to a graviton. However, the price of this success are unusual features such
as six extra dimensions of space in addition to the usual three for space and one for time. Currently, there
is still no complete and consistent quantum theory of gravity. Apart from the major formal and conceptual
problems that need to be overcome, the common problem they encounter is that so far there is no way to
put quantum gravity predictions to experimental verification.
Theoretical physics is logic formal system based on the core concepts of space, time, particle, field and
interactions. According to the set theory [8], logic formal systems based on different conceptual sets are not
Theoretical Physics, Vol. 4, No. 2, June 2019
https://dx.doi.org/10.22606/tp.2019.42004 85
Copyright © 2019 Isaac Scientific Publishing TP