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Hyperdrive Propulsion Could Be Tested At the LHC
KentuckyFC writes "In 1924, the influential German mathematician David Hilbert calculated that a stationary mass should repel a particle moving towards or away from it at more than half the speed of light (as seen by a distant inertial observer). Now an American physicist has pointed out that the equal and opposite effect should also hold true: that a relativistic particle should repel a stationary mass. This, he says, could form the basis of a 'hypervelocity propulsion drive' for accelerating spacecraft to a good fraction of the speed of light. The idea is that the repulsion allows the relativistic particle to deliver a specific impulse that is greater than its specific momentum, an effect that is analogous to the elastic collision of a heavy mass with a much lighter, stationary mass, from which the lighter mass rebounds with about twice the speed of the heavy mass. Unlike other exotic hyperdrive proposals, this one can be tested using the world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC, which will generate beams of particles with the required energy (abstract). Placing a test mass next to the beam line and measuring the forces on it as the particles pass by should confirm the theory — or scupper it entirely."
It could be tested at the LHC if it ever manages to stay working for more than a month at a time, that is. :(
Apart from being a potential nifty space drive, it would also provide a new test of General Relativity. This is far more likely to get it done as a real experiment at the LHC, than a new space drive.
KE = 1/2m*v^2
There's no way around that one, and I don't care WHAT you use to accelerate your object. Rocket, ion drive, hyperdrive - you are always going to need a source of fuel, which is going to increase your mass, which is going to increase the amount of fuel you need, etc.
It doesn't matter how efficient your engine is, your top speed (and thus your range) will ALWAYS be limited by the mass of fuel you need to drag along with you to get there (and hopefully decelerate too). Never mind the perfect ecosystem required to keep a crew alive for decades/centuries. (Cue magical "suspended animation")
The ONLY exception to this is the "solar sail" concept, which relies on an external source of propulsion. However THAT is limited by your only being able to accelerate for a limited time until you get far enough away from a star that the particle density is essentially nil and acceleration stops.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
And now they're getting the theory down for building it.
Its only a matter of time (pun intended) till this plays out and turns into the world's first hyperdrive.
While testing this on the ground, just make sure you're not actually moving the Earth...
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50K MPH equals roughly 22352.0 meters per second
The Speed of light = 299792458 meters per second
50KMPH * (1 hundred orders of magnitude = 1e+100) = 2.2352e+104 meters per second
In terms of Speed of light:
7.45582465586909e+95 * C
That's quite an impressive jump in speed.
Sigs are for the weak.
When we get a "-1, Statement of the Bloody Obvious that Every 3rd Nerd Will Be Compelled to Make", we can use that.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
How could you possibly say such a thing? Meaningless speculation is a key component of our culture I'll have you know.
The Scientist's name is Felber, therefore the small fraction of light speed drive would likely be known as the Felber Drive.
If that doesn't sound sexy enough for you try the Hilbert-Felber Drive.
If you really want it to be metal, stick an umlaut in there somewhere.