Gravitational Waves as Instantaneous Variation of Interaction
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: General relativity describes gravitational waves as perturbations of spacetime that propagate at c and carry energy. This article reinterprets the phenomenon within the framework of the series (Flor 2026k, 2026l, 2026m, 2026n, 2026o): interaction is instantaneous at every instant; what is called a 'gravitational wave' is the temporal variation of the intensity of gravitational interaction at a point — the same reinterpretation the series has already proposed for light (Flor 2026m, Statement 41; Flor 2026n), applied to the gravitational case. The peak is the local maximum of interaction, which occurs when the source of interaction is closest to the observer; it is not an emitted entity that travels from source to detector. A distinction is drawn between source of emission and source of interaction (Flor 2026m, 8.4): in gravitation there is no source of emission; astronomical bodies are directly sources of interaction. The article proposes the fourth experiment: a comparison between the phase of the maximum of the Moon's gravitational interaction (which occurs at closest approach) and the phase of the image (which occurs 1.3 s later), with an angular difference of ∼0.7 arcseconds. The article acknowledges that, for uniform motion, general relativity and instantaneity coincide in predicting the dominant field: the experiment tests the ontology of interaction against the naive mediated reading, not general relativity. The distinction between the two readings would appear in the radiative part of the field — which LIGO claims to measure, but whose interpretation is a conditional inference and remains an open problem. Tides are the already-observed manifestation of the local phenomenon — with a diurnal period (intensity) or semidiurnal period (gradient). The orbital decay of PSR B1913+16 (Hulse-Taylor) is examined: the binary system is open, and orbital energy is exchanged with the environment; the coincidence with the quadrupolar formula is compatible with three hypotheses, and the choice among them is declared an open problem. The series does not deny gravitational waves; it reinterprets what they are. From this reinterpretation it follows that the expected signal is about 17 orders of magnitude below LIGO's sensitivity — that is, undetectable. If the chirp is the signature of a spacetime perturbation that traveled from a cosmological source, if energy is carried by the field, if interaction is mediated — then interaction is not instantaneous, the wave is not the variation of interaction, energy is not only in the bodies, and the entire series is refuted. The article does not relativize LIGO's interpretation: it recognizes it as a bet of the series, and declares the risk.
Author: FLOR, RICARDO
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225654896
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