Newton discovered gravity, but still 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.
Today we expect fields to act at a distance, as Wi-Fi waves from a router can provide Internet for a whole house. The earth’s magnetic field can move a compass in a plane far above it, so why can’t a gravity field hold the moon in orbit? The field that does that is the quantum field, which represents the quantum activity of each point of space.
In quantum theory, a matter entity exists as a distribution whose strength is the probability that it will be physically found there, which in this model arises because quantum processes spread. By Gauss’s law, a flux spreading over a sphere reduces as the inverse square of its radius (Figure 5.8) (Note1), so a processing flux that is the same will also weaken as an inverse square. Matter then spreads itself around in a way that weakens as gravity does, given only that quantum theory is true.
The effect of gravity is insignificant for small objects, but the huge distribution of the earth imposes a gradient on the quantum field that strengthens it closer to earth. As established earlier (5.3.3), objects tremble more often where the quantum field around them is stronger, to move in that direction, so the earth’s distribution has that effect. The earth’s gravity then is caused by the gradient it imposes on the quantum field around it, which acts at a distance, reduces as an inverse square, and is unstoppable as quantum processing always spreads.
Classical objects just sit there inert, but quantum entities pulsate into the space around them, and the earth does that on a massive scale. They also need to be pushed, but quantum entities constantly tremble based on their local quantum field, to move in a way that Newton couldn’t conceive. The earth as brute matter can’t exist beyond its surface but its quantum existence reaches all the way to the moon to keep it in orbit, as objects fall downwards because they tremble more often where the quantum field is stronger.
Note that the quantum field proposed here isn’t the quantum fields of the standard model, which can’t explain gravity. They are particle fields and quantum theory doesn’t support particles. Given that the strong, weak, and Higgs fields are unnecessary (4.5.3). This quantum field can then replace all the current fields of physics, as will be seen.
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.