# Page:Über die Möglichkeit einer elektromagnetischen Begründung der Mechanik.djvu/6

If two quanta of same sign are located at the distance ${\displaystyle r}$

 ${\displaystyle e=\varsigma \ dx\ dy\ dz,}$ ${\displaystyle e'=\varsigma '\ dx'\ dy'\ dz',}$

then the energy is

 (5) ${\displaystyle {\frac {ee'}{r}}=-\int \limits _{\infty }^{r}{\frac {ee'}{r^{2}}}dr;}$

this energy was produced by work against a force acting repulsive between the quanta, of amount

 (6) ${\displaystyle -{\frac {ee'}{r^{2}}}.}$

By that, the force acting between two quanta is defined.

This law must hold for any of the two polarizations.

If positive and negative quanta start to interact, then Lorentz's assumption is, that the attracting force occurring, is greater in a certain ratio as the repulsive one between two quanta of equal sign. On greater distances, the dipoles act as if the positive and negative quantum would be located at the same place. Thus, by the total action of negative and positive quanta upon a second dipole, one obtains an excess of attraction.

This explanation of gravitation has the direct consequence, that the disturbance itself is propagating with the speed of light, and it must experience a modification by the motion of the mutually attracting bodies. Lorentz has investigated, whether this modification of gravitation can explain the anomalies of the motion of mercury, yet he found a negative result. Some astronomers believed that it is necessary to assume a greater speed than that of light for the propagation of gravitation. However, one cannot speak about a propagation speed of gravitation (as a static force) itself.