Galactic Gravitational Life-Belt Theory
The Galactic Gravitational Life-Belt Theory (GGLB) proposes that biological habitability should be considered as a hierarchical phenomenon beginning at the galactic scale rather than solely at the planetary or stellar scale. The theory introduces the concept of a Galactic Gravitational Life-Belt: a toroidal or quasi-toroidal region inside a galaxy where gravitational potential, orbital stability, local stellar density, metallicity, supernova exposure, radiation environment, and dynamical perturbations may jointly provide more favorable conditions for the long-term formation and persistence of stable planetary systems. The framework distinguishes four levels of habitability: galactic habitability, stellar habitability, planetary orbital habitability, and planetary habitability. It proposes observational tests based on galactic gravitational potential, stellar orbital history, residence fraction within the proposed belt, metallicity, stellar age, and observational selection effects. A central falsifiable prediction is that planetary systems most favorable to life should cluster within a limited range of galactic gravitational potential or orbital history, and that this relation should retain predictive value after controlling for conventional factors such as metallicity, stellar type, age, and observational biases.
Authors
- Ali Alhawarat M (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8590-0285)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-10-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23127987
- Primary Topic
- Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Type
- preprint