PHOTONS IN THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD

In a previous paper, "The Gravitokinetic Field and the Orbit of Mercury," a new theory of gravitation was introduced, according to which space–time is always flat and the gravitational field is described by equations of Maxwellian form. In this paper it is shown that the theory correctly predicts the gravitational red shift and the gravitational deflection of a light ray. The interaction of photons with a gravitational field follows from the basic premises of quantum theory, that photon frequency is proportional to its energy and that photon wavelength is inversely proportional to its momentum. The photon velocity and proper mass depend on the gravitational potential, and the deflection of a light ray is due to gravitational refraction. The validity of the antisymmetric field equations for sources of variable rest mass is due to the divergence of the group velocity from the dynamical velocity.