Abstract
Sakharov has proposed a suggestive model in which gravity is not a separately existing fundamental force, but rather an induced effect associated with zero-point fluctuations (ZPF’s) of the vacuum, in much the same manner as the van der Waals and Casimir forces. In the spirit of this proposal we develop a point-particle–ZPF interaction model that accords with and fulfills this hypothesis. In the model gravitational mass and its associated gravitational effects are shown to derive in a fully self-consistent way from electromagnetic-ZPF-induced particle motion (Zitterbewegung). Because of its electromagnetic-ZPF underpinning, gravitational theory in this form constitutes an ‘‘already unified’’ theory.
- Received 15 August 1988
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.39.2333
©1989 American Physical Society