Shielding of Gravitationally Induced Electric Fields

Abstract

This paper proposes for the surface of a metal a model that is capable of resolving some of the experimental differences surrounding the measurement of gravitationally induced electric fields. Theoretical calculations of the magnitude of this field suggest that it should be of the order of $\mathbf{E}=\frac{-M\mathbf{g}}{e}$ where $M$ is the mass of the lattice atom, $-e$ the electron charge, and g the acceleration due to gravity. The experiments of Beams and Craig agree with this theoretical prediction, but the measurements of Witteborn and Fairbank show a much smaller field ${\mathbf{E}}_1\frac{+m\mathbf{g}}{e}$ where $m$ is the electron mass. It is possible that these experimental differences are due in part to differences in surface conditions, and we show that a distribution of metallic whiskers on the metal surface can effectively shield the field E so that only the field ${\mathbf{E}}_1$ remains at distances from the metallic surface large compared to the whisker dimensions.