Graviton

The graviton is an elementary particle that transmits the force of gravity. It is used for a variety of purposes involving attractive/repellent forces, such as tractor beams, the gravity plating on starships or antigravs. The opposite of a graviton is an antigraviton.

The graviton was postulated by Earth physicists in the 20th century as an outgrowth of quantum gravity theory. To the extent that gravitons are used in the production of artificial gravity, both Vulcan ships and Earth ships were using gravitons for practical purposes by the end of the 20th century.

By the 24th century, Starfleet vessels had the ability to produce gravitons as a field and/or a beam from a starship. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds"; VOY: "Caretaker")

In nature, Gravitons are sometimes encountered in the form of Graviton gradients or even Gravimetric waves. In the case of the latter there are six classes of wave force, with each successive class having greater force than the previous class by a factor of 10. A Class VI Gravimetric Wave is an extremely powerful wave capable of causing severe damage to or even the destruction of several type of Starships. Gravimetric waves are created whenever a natural formed Subspace Bubble bursts or in circumstances where stellar bodies may explode or shed their outer layers such as supernovae. In 2408 the USS Rosenante was caught in a Class VI gravimetric Wave which was created when a naturally occuring Subspace Bubble ruptured. The bubble was located inside the Beltanis Stellar Nursery and was the first natural recorded occurance of a Subspace Bubble ever recorded. The Rosenante suffered significant damage as a result of being struck by the wave. Another powerful Class VI Gravimetric wave was detected with the Klingon Moon exploded as a result of overmining.