Gravitational phenomena in astrophysical systems are commonly modeled by assumingthat baryonic matter sources gravity solely through its coarse-grained mean stress–energy.This procedure is typically justified implicitly, despite the nonlinear nature of Einstein’sfield equations and the composite, interacting structure of real matter. In this work,we examine whether long-range correlations in baryonic stress–energy can survive coarsegraining and contribute to the effective gravitational response within standard generalrelativity. Working entirely within the weak-field, quasistatic regime and without modifyingthe gravitational field equations, we show that correlated stress fluctuations genericallyinduce an environment-dependent amplification of gravitational sourcing. The effect isselective, vanishes for uncorrelated matter, and admits clear falsifiability criteria. We discussparametric scaling, astrophysical regimes of relevance, and the implications for interpretinggravitational phenomena often attributed to non-luminous components, while emphasizingthe non-universal and conditional character of the mechanism.
Christian Macinnis Borge (Mon,) studied this question.