re GR Title

[Jeffrey Reid]

On Wed, 1 May 1996, Hartwin Alfred Gebhardt wrote:
> A rainbow is caused, as I understand it, by the interaction of light
> and the medium it passes through.
>
The rainbow's cause is essentially the separation of the different
component frequencies (which we see as different 'colors') of sunlight
refracting through water droplets in the air (which is why you only see
them when it's rainy and sunny at the same time).

> Also by our brain's tendency to
> 'spontaneously' categorize a spectrum of colour into seven distinct
> colours.
>
Wether you see 7 colors or 7 million they are all there in the rainbow,
the effect would exist even if all humans were colorblind.  Our attachment
of Roy G. Biv to the rainbow is simply our way of percieving a physical
phenomenon, so I would argue that the cultural aspects of color perception
have little to do with the cause of the rainbow, and more to do with its
interpretation.

> Gravity is the 'force' of attraction between objects with
> mass, although technically bodies are not manipulated by a force as
> such but rather by the peculiar nature of spacetime (according to
> relativity - quote attached, which could be open to criticism). But
> how does the interaction of these two terms, and the way in which
> they are related ('rainbow' belonging to 'gravity') encapsulate the
> concerns of GR (if it does)?
>
Both gravitational and electromagnetic interactions can be thought of as
fields in spacetime which interact with different 'stuff' (charge for EM
mass for gravity) using different mediating particles (photons for EM
gravitons for gravity).  So there exists a direct analogy (in
theory) between a rainbow made by photon refraction and a rainbow
(Gravity's) made by graviton refraction.  The physical existence of such a
thing may not be feasible because of differences between the EM and
gravity fields, but hypothetically there is no reason why such an object
couldn't exist.

This speaks to the scientific tendency for generalization (which
provide insight and solutions) which I think is well treated by TRP.  His
characters are often archetypes (V being the obvious example) whose problems
and solutions can provide models for our own interactions.  We all have a
V, and we are each our own  Slothrop running away from our own personal
'Them'.  That's what's so insidious about it, They are always different for
each of us, and so the best we can do to learn about dealing with Them is by
example and generalization to our situation.  I see the title 'Gravity's
Rainbow' as a reference to generalization and a pointer to the purpose of
the book.

Jeff

---------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey G Reid       			jgreid at u.washington.edu
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"O holy mathematics, may I for the rest of my days be consoled
 by perpetual intercourse with you, consoled for the wickedness
 of man and the injustice of the Almighty!"  -- Isidore Ducasse