Discrete Gravity: Ultimate Residue of Electromagnetism

Gravity = the macroscopic residual effect of the electromagnetic environment.
In a discrete universe, the total electromagnetic fields of all matter never cancel perfectly. Tiny imbalances accumulate over time and appear to us as gravity.

Core Idea

• Finite atoms → incomplete cancellation. Small local asymmetries accumulate into macroscopic attraction.
• Long-range consistency. This slow, uniform residual effect presents as gravity at large scales.
• The continuous ideal hides it. Continuous equations assume perfect cancellation and therefore erase the residual effect.

What This Explains

• Anomalies in thin or low-density environments. Where continuous models fail, discrete EM effects become visible.
• The importance of shape and boundaries. Material asymmetry and structure affect the local environment and the forces measured.

Experiments & Verification

• Environment-dependent bias. Tiny deviations in precision experiments may come from shifts in the local electromagnetic environment.
• Material dependence. The gravitational “pull” shows slight but measurable dependence on composition and geometric configuration.

Positioning

It is magnetic monopoles that create electric charges, which neutralize each other, leaving gravity as the final residue. It is: in a universe of finite atoms, the electromagnetic environment left after all partial cancellation — the residual field — presents at the macroscopic scale as universal attraction.

Construction: A Discrete Definition of Gravity from Finite Atoms

In Newton’s mechanics and in Einstein’s general relativity, gravity is introduced as a continuous field: a smooth inverse-square force, or a smooth curvature of spacetime. These theories work with continuous masses, continuous densities, and continuous fields — all of which smear together the contribution of many atoms.

In a continuous model, one can postulate perfect cancellation “by construction” and then define gravity as a separate field. In a discrete model, with a finite number of atoms and fields, perfect cancellation is impossible; some collective residue remains. That residue is weak, always attractive, and accumulates over astronomical scales.

But the real universe is built from finite, discrete atoms. In such a world:

• Atoms can never be arranged in perfect symmetry; their positions, motions, and internal charge distributions fluctuate.
• Electromagnetic fields are long-range, so even tiny local deviations influence distant regions.
• Cancellation of fields is at best statistical, never exact; a small positive residue is guaranteed.

Construct Universe and Gravity

• Gravity Construction through Construction of Universe

So here, gravity is not a separate continuous field added on top of electromagnetism, but a constructed effect: the macroscopic, positive remainder of all incomplete electromagnetic cancellations in a finite, discrete universe. Its universality comes not from an extra law, but from the simple fact that when everything is finite, exact balance is forbidden.

A simple construction makes this idea concrete: start from two hydrogen atoms whose attraction is electromagnetic and directional, then keep adding atoms on each side. An easier version starts with two bar magnets, where the attraction is magnetic and directional. With enough symmetry, the external magnetism can almost disappear, but the attraction remains. That remaining, nondirectional attraction is what we call gravity.

Related Projects

• Define Ether (background)
• Continuous → Discrete (discrete methods & experiments)

© 2025 Dong Zhang · [email protected]

Part of the Define Physics series — see: Define Ether · Define Gravity · Continuous→Discrete