Gravity as Acoustic Radiation Pressure: A Phenomenological Model and Testable Predictions

This preprint proposes a phenomenological model in which gravitational attraction emerges as an effective interaction consistent with acoustic radiation pressure between oscillating structures in an inviscid effective medium (“superfluid vacuum” in the sense used in analogue-gravity and condensed-matter approaches). Building on analogue-gravity work (e.g., Unruh, Visser, Barceló) and superfluid-vacuum ideas associated with Volovik, the paper models matter as long-lived, self-sustaining oscillatory excitations (oscillons). Under stated assumptions, the interaction between in-phase oscillators yields an effective secondary Bjerknes-type force, and inverse-square scaling follows from spherical wave propagation geometry. The framework is presented as an effective description intended for critique and comparison against established constraints; it is not a claim of experimental confirmation. The paper discusses implications for the equivalence principle within the model’s definitions and examines vacuum-energy considerations in self-sustained condensate systems (Gibbs–Duhem). Gravitational radiation is treated via an emergent-metric formalism; consistency with observed tensor polarisation is discussed, while the identification of the specific propagating spin-2 collective mode is noted as an open theoretical problem. Five falsifiable predictions are outlined, including potential signatures such as echoes associated with medium phase boundaries, driven-oscillation modulation effects, possible electromagnetic/vacuum-potential couplings (as model-dependent tests), polarisation anomalies, and high-frequency dispersion. Key open problems are stated explicitly (e.g., phase-locking mechanism; spin-2 mode identification). Companion preprint (pressure-gradient formulation): Gravity as Pressure Gradient (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18652098)