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

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

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