Экранирование гравитации: Теория и эксперименты

Hypothetical shielding of an object from gravity
The term gravitational shielding refers to a hypothetical process of shielding an object from the influence of a gravitational field. Such processes, if they existed, would have the effect of reducing the weight of an object. The shape of the shielded region would be similar to a shadow from the gravitational shield. For example, the shape of the shielded region above a disk would be conical. The height of the cone's apex above the disk would vary directly with the height of the shielding disk above the Earth. Experimental evidence to date indicates that no such effect exists. Gravitational shielding is considered to be a violation of the equivalence principle and therefore inconsistent with both Newtonian theory and general relativity. The concept of gravity shielding is a common concept in science fiction literature, especially for space travel. One of the first and best known examples is the fictional gravity shielding substance "Cavorite" that appears in H. G. Wells' classic 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon. Wells was promptly criticized for using it by Jules Verne.

Some shielding experiments were conducted in the early 20th century by Quirino Majorana. Majorana claimed to have measured positive shielding effects. Henry Norris Russell's analysis of the tidal forces showed that Majorana's positive results had nothing to do with gravitational shielding. To bring Majorana's experiments in accordance with the equivalence principle of General Relativity he proposed a model, in which the mass of a body is diminished by the proximity of another body, but he denied any connection between gravitational shielding and his proposal of mass variation. For another explanation of Majorana's experiments, see Coïsson et al. But Majorana's results couldn't be confirmed up to this day (see the section above) and Russell's mass variation theory, although meant as a modification of general relativity, is inconsistent with standard physics as well.

The consensus view of the scientific community is that gravitational shielding does not exist, but there have been occasional investigations into this topic, such as the 1999 NASA funded paper which reported negative results. Eugene Podkletnov claimed in two papers, one of which he later withdrew, that objects held above a magnetically levitated, superconducting, rotating disc underwent a reduction of between 0.5 and 2% in weight. Theoreticians have attempted to reconcile Podkletnov's claims with quantum gravity theory. However, neither Podkletnov's claims, nor the similar claims of others, of "gravity reduction", "gravity shielding", or the like, have yet been successfully replicated, verified by independent review, or subjected to public demonstration.

In his 1976 paper, Electromagnetism and Gravitation, physicist Edward Teller discussed experimentation with electrets, or materials with a permanent electric dipole moment, near its transition point to discover the transition between dipole states. On July 9, 1997, William Rhodes, an inventor, made a posting on Usenet concerning a discovery of an antigravity effect related to electrets. Also, Dr. Martin Tajmar, a physicist and professor for Space Systems at the Dresden University of Technology has written a paper on propellantless propulsion and makes numerous references to electrets. A patent for a gravitational attenuating material that utilizes an organic based material was made by inventor Ronald J. Kita.