graviton

noun

grav·i·ton ˈgra-və-ˌtän

: a hypothetical particle with zero charge and rest mass that is held to be the quantum of the gravitational field

Examples of graviton in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

From the space-time perspective, these curves capture events beyond the purview of trace phi cubed theory: colorless particles that the researchers believe could eventually describe gravitons. —

Charlie Wood, WIRED, 3 Nov. 2024 The odds that any particular graviton will interact with the beryllium bar are low, but the wave will contain so many gravitons that the overall odds of at least one interaction are high. —

Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 30 Oct. 2024 The simplest explanation of a positive result would be the existence of gravitons. —

Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 30 Oct. 2024 Could these massive gravitons themselves be an example of dark matter? —

Janna Levin, Quanta Magazine, 29 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for graviton

Word History

Etymology

gravit(y) + -on entry 2, after Russian gravitón

Note: The term was introduced by the Russian physicists Dmitrij Ivanovič Bloxincev (1908-79) and Fëdor Matveevič Gal'perin (1903-85) in "Gipoteza nejtrino i zakon soxranenija ènergii," Pod znamenem marksizma, vol. 6 (1934), pp. 147-57.

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of graviton was in 1942

See more words from the same year