Newton discovered gravity but found it inconceivable that inanimate matter caused it:
“It is inconceivable, that inanimate brute matter should, without the mediation of something else, which is not material, operate upon, and affect other matter without mutual contact;…” (Wilczek, 2008) p77
If matter only moves when other matter pushes it, how can gravity move matter at a distance without direct contact? Physical realism had no answer then and it still can’t explain gravity today as that inanimate brute matter distorts space and time is as inconceivable as that it acts at a distance! Assuming that only particles cause forces, physics attributed electromagnetism to virtual photons but this trick didn’t work for gravity and Einstein’s relativity didn’t make it any less magical.
In quantum realism, an electron is a photon ensemble constantly restarting in a network node. This activity creates a quantum field around it that lets electrons “tunnel” to places they can’t travel to. The earth as a huge bulk of matter creates a huge quantum field around it that has effects far beyond its surface. Passengers in a plane high above the earth sit in seats thanks to gravity and compasses show the earth’s magnetic field is there in the plane. Physics attributes gravity to gravitons and magnetism to virtual photons but quantum realism only has the quantum field. It is called an imaginary existence field as it defines where matter might exist but in quantum realism it is a real existence field that defines where quantum activity exists. In these terms, matter spreads its existence around itself as quantum processing.
How then does the earth’s quantum field spread? According to Gauss’s theorem, any flux spreading out over a sphere surface diminishes as the inverse square of its radius (Figure 5.7) (Note1) so if quantum processing spreads as a flux, the quantum field reduces as an inverse square of distance. The reduction in strength with distance gives a processing gradient that can explain gravity.
For a matter satellite orbiting the earth, the quantum field on the side nearer the earth has more processing than the side further away. If every node of matter naturally trembles on the quantum level, increasing the quantum field one way will make it restart more often that way. If each matter entity in the satellite restarts randomly based on the quantum field, increasing the field on one side will make it more likely to restart that way. The earth then moves matter not by “pushing” it but by increasing the quantum field on the side nearer to it so it restarts more often that way.
Classical objects only move when pushed but in quantum theory, an electron can jump to any point in its quantum field without anything pushing it. The earth’s quantum field is so massive that its processing gradient makes quantum entities tremble more often one way to cause movement in our terms. In quantum realism, gravity is the quantum field of a massive body creating a processing gradient that biases the tremble of quantum matter towards itself.
Note 1. The flux transferred across a sphere surface reduces as the inverse square of its radius 1/r2. Newton’s law of gravity F = g.m1.m2/r2 with m1 and m2 masses and g constant is an inverse square flux law, as is Coulomb’s law F = k.q1.q2/r2 with charges q1 and q2 and k constant. Both laws come from Gauss’s flux law.