General Akbar ( star Wars): Let's go to superluminal!
Ever wondered what flying faster than the speed of light would look like? But this concept began to be thought about even when Einstein deduced the theory that the speed of light is the maximum value with which nothing in the Universe is able to move.
One of the popular theories about superluminal speed is a flight through hyperspace, the essence of which is the literal refraction of the space around you, due to which the journey from point A to point B would be as fast as possible.
Science fiction movies like the iconic Star Trek and Star Wars have taught us that going faster than the speed of light (or through hyperspace) looks like the picture above. But is it really so?
Students from the University of Leicester () decided to find out what a person who moves faster than the speed of light will actually see. It turned out that not everything is as beautiful as it is shown in the films. However, this is exactly what the process would look like.
Real view at hyper speed
All you see when you're in a ship that's moving at that speed is just a bright, blurry white glow. And nothing more. No warping stars or anything like science fiction. But despite all the visual dullness, scientists are interested in the fact why we will not see anything but bright white light.
The fact is that the Doppler effect applies to all types of waves. The closer we get to the light source, the shorter its waves become, and their frequency increases. This is where the blur effect comes from. If we move away from the light source, then its waves will become longer and go into the red range. This effect is called red shift.
Most of those who are familiar with astronomy know that the redshift is most often found there. Far light waves in this case go into the infrared spectrum, and the longest light into microwave waves.
In addition to the red shift, there is a blue shift, which, to put it simply, has the opposite effect. If the speed becomes faster than light, then the blueshift effect is so powerful that ordinary visible light waves move into the x-ray spectrum.
At the same time, cosmic background radiation, which has been formed since the moment of the universe itself about 13 billion years ago, is in the visible spectrum. Therefore, people flying in a ship faster than the speed of light will only be able to see the light from the formed universe, as if they were there at that very time.
ASTROPHYSICS: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FLIGHTS THROUGH HYPERSPACE.
The main obstacle to flights to the stars is the limiting speed of movement in physical space, defined in Einstein's theory of relativity. This limiting speed is equal to the speed of light - 300 thousand kilometers per second. According to my theory of the Absolute, this speed limit is due to the fact that the physical universe is filled with ether, which is the medium for the transmission of interactions and the medium in which the spacecraft moves. When a ship or other object approaches the speed of light, the ether begins to provide significant resistance to movement. spaceship, the ship also begins to shrink in the direction of its movement. This is similar to how an inflatable ball begins to flatten in the water in the direction of movement, if it is pushed too fast - the water resists the movement.
If, however, the spacecraft somehow turns out to be moved into hyperspace, then it finds itself in a medium that is much more rarefied than the ether. If the ether can be compared with a liquid medium, then hyperspace is a gas. Therefore, in hyperspace, a spaceship can move at a tremendous speed, many times greater than the speed of light in the physical world. There are certainly some restrictions there, but still there is no main obstacle to the acceleration of the spacecraft - the physical ether.
A spacecraft in hyperspace will most likely have the same inertia as in the physical universe, i.e. the ship will also have to be accelerated in hyperspace as in physical space, but in hyperspace a spacecraft can accelerate to speeds many times greater than the speed of light.
This makes it possible to fly to the stars and return back in a fairly short time. However, there are some limitations. People and technology do not easily tolerate excessive acceleration.
The ship must fly in hyperspace, constantly accelerating in order to accelerate to the required speed. In order to accelerate to the speed of light, flying with an acceleration of ~1g (10 m/s2), corresponding to the earth's gravity, it will take 30 million seconds or 347 days - almost a year of flight in hyperspace. To accelerate to twice the speed of light 2s, it will take almost two years, to accelerate to a speed of 10s - 9.5 years. Such a spacecraft in 9.5 years of flight will fly at an average speed of 5c a distance of approximately 47.5 light years. Next, you need to turn on the brake engines, since a spaceship flying at a speed of 10 times the speed of light cannot enter physical space without exploding with colossal force, then the entire mass of the ship will turn into radiation. Thus, the spacecraft will need another 9.5 years to decelerate in hyperspace to slow down to zero. During this time, the ship will fly another 47.5 light years, and the total distance traveled will be 95 light years over 19 years of flight. It's far enough. There are thousands of stars and tens of thousands of planets within a radius of 95 light years from the Earth, this is a large field for research. Returning from hyperspace to physical space, the spacecraft will be somewhere far from the Earth, at a distance of 95 light years from it, for example, near some star or even a planet, and can start studying this planetary system. After spending several years on these studies, the ship sets off on its way back to Earth, through hyperspace. The return trip takes another 19 years with acceleration and deceleration. Thus, the spacecraft will return to Earth after 40 years of flight. If the astronauts went on this flight still young, at the age of 20-25, then when they return to Earth, they will already be 60-65 years old. Which means that flights through hyperspace, even to stars very distant from us (remote by today's standards), are quite feasible on the basis of the theory of the Absolute.
Flights of automatic spacecraft can be carried out with much greater acceleration, since technology can be made much stronger than man. 10, 20, 30 g, and more - with such accelerations, very remote areas of space become available for research. With an acceleration of ~50g (500 m/s2), an automatic spacecraft will accelerate to the speed of light in less than 7 days, and in 9.5 years of flight it will accelerate to a speed of 500 s - 500 times faster than light. average speed the flight will be 250 s and the ship will fly a distance of 2378 light years during this time. Another 9.5 years to decelerate, and the automated spacecraft dives from hyperspace back into physical space, finding itself at a distance of 4756 light years from Earth.
Thus, the theory of the Absolute, in fact, removes the limitations of Einstein's theory of relativity, since the theory of relativity limits the range of space flights to the limiting speed of light. Through hyperspace, you can send spaceships consisting of physical atoms to almost any distance - even to neighboring galaxies and beyond. Difficulties here are of a technical nature - the strength of materials, the availability of powerful energy sources and engines. Is there some more major problem- how to carry out the transfer of the ship from physical space to hyperspace and back. When this issue is resolved theoretically and technically, the road to the stars will be open.
There is also the difficulty of orienting the ship in hyperspace. I already wrote in my article "Optics of hyperspace and dimensions of hyperplanets" that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to visually navigate in hyperspace due to the strongest optical distortions caused by gravity and antigravity.
The flow of time on a spaceship in hyperspace.
Most likely, time on a spaceship flying in hyperspace will flow at the same speed as on Earth. This is due to the fact that the Earth itself moves in the ether surrounding it at a low speed and the relativistic deviation of the speed of the flow of time on the Earth from the speed of the flow of time on the reference space object, which has a speed of zero relative to the surrounding ether, is very insignificant. Therefore, on Earth and on a spacecraft that flew through hyperspace and returned to Earth, almost the same time will pass.
I'll explain in more detail. Time on a space ship flying in physical space at near-light speed slows down due to the interaction of the physical substance of the ship with the physical ether. It is this interaction of the physical substance of the spaceship with the physical ether that fills the entire physical space and causes all relativistic effects - time dilation, reduction in the length of the ship in the direction of movement, increase in the mass of the ship. This physical ether resists a ship flying at near-light speed.
When a spaceship flies through hyperspace, which is filled with hypergas, and not with physical ether, it flies without resistance. Hypersubstance does not interact with physical matter, or interacts much weaker than ether. Therefore, there are no relativistic effects when the spacecraft moves in hyperspace. There is no increase in mass, no time dilation, no reduction in the length of the ship in the direction of travel.
The theory of relativity states that there is no standard time, that everything is relative. This is Einstein's mistake. Reference time is the time on an object that is stationary relative to the surrounding ether. This error is due to the fact that science has not yet proved the existence of the ether. However, she did not refute it, since light still propagates in some medium. Why not call this medium an ether, and not the abstract concept of "space", which does not define anything but three conditional axes perpendicular to each other.
Thus, the spaceship itself, once in hyperspace, will apparently be such a reference object, with a reference time flow corresponding to the speed of movement in the surrounding ether equal to zero. There is no ether around the ship in hyperspace, and it does not provide any resistance to the movement of the ship, no matter how fast it moves.
Reducing the mass of the spacecraft.
It is likely that there are ways to reduce the mass of a spacecraft, such as using anti-gravity. Since antigravity, according to the theory of the absolute, really exists in hyperspace, there is also a theoretical possibility of its use. It can be, for example, a device under the conditional name "Anti-gravity field generator". When such devices appear, they will reduce the mass of the spacecraft several times, this will allow you to fly in hyperspace at a much higher speed, and at much greater distances. Reducing the mass of the ship and crew by 5 times will allow flying with an acceleration of 5g with the same comfort as with an acceleration of 1g. A decrease in the mass of the ship and crew by 1000 times will allow flying with an acceleration of 1000g with the same comfort as with an acceleration of 1g. Moreover, the fuel costs during a flight with an acceleration of 1000g will be the same as during a flight with an acceleration of 1g, without taking into account the energy costs for creating an antigravitational field.
If it is possible to completely neutralize the mass of the ship, or make it negative, then any restrictions on the speed of the ship will disappear, such a ship will be able to fly at almost infinite speed in hyperspace to any distance, to neighboring and distant galaxies, billions of light years from Earth. However, it should be noted that a ship that creates an anti-gravitational field will interact with the surrounding hypersubstance. Therefore, there will still be some restrictions on the speed of the spacecraft in hyperspace for a ship with an antigravity installation.
Mystics and hyperspace
Some of these notions are not new. In the past few centuries, mystics and philosophers have speculated about the existence of other universes and tunnels between them. Since ancient times, they have been occupied with the possible existence of other worlds that cannot be detected with the help of sight or hearing, nevertheless adjacent to our Universe. It was intriguing that perhaps these unexplored and unexplored worlds are very close, in fact, surround us, permeate us everywhere we go, but remain physically inaccessible to us, elude our senses. But all these conversations eventually turned out to be empty and useless, since there was no practical way express these ideas mathematically and eventually test them.
Another favorite literary device is the transitions between our universe and other dimensions. For science fiction authors, multidimensionality has become an indispensable tool that they use as a medium for interstellar travel. Since the stars in the sky are separated by astronomically vast distances, science fiction writers make use of higher dimensions by conveniently shortening the path between the stars. Instead of covering gigantic distances, moving along a direct path to other galaxies, rockets simply and instantly go into hyperspace, deforming the space around them. For example, in the movie Star Wars, hyperspace serves as a safe haven where Luke Skywalker can easily elude Imperial starships. In the television series Star Trek. Deep Space Nine "(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)" wormhole "opens near a distant space station, allowing for a matter of seconds to overcome gigantic distances and cross the galaxy. The space station suddenly becomes the center of an intense intergalactic conflict in which the parties vie for the right to control this vital link to other regions of the galaxy.
Ever since Flight 19, a 30-year-old incident in which a flight of American torpedo bombers disappeared during a training flight in the Caribbean, mystery novelists have used multidimensionality as a convenient solution to the mystery of the Bermuda, or Devil's, Triangle. Some writers have suggested that the planes and ships that disappear into the Bermuda Triangle actually end up in a tunnel leading to another world.
The existence of elusive parallel worlds for centuries has given rise to countless hypotheses of a religious nature. Spiritualists wondered whether the souls of deceased loved ones actually pass into another dimension. 17th century British philosopher Henry More claimed that ghosts and spirits do exist and inhabit the fourth dimension. In his Manual of Metaphysics (Enchiridion Metaphysicum, 1671), he advocated the existence of a realm of the dead, inaccessible to our perception and serving as a refuge for ghosts and spirits.
Theologians of the 19th century, not knowing where to look for heaven and hell, wondered if they could be found in higher dimensions. Some have written that the universe consists of three parallel planes: earth, heaven and hell. God Himself, according to the theologian Arthur Willink, resides in a world far removed from these three planes: He lives in infinite dimensional space.
Interest in higher dimensions peaked in the years 1870-1920, when the “fourth dimension” (spatial, as opposed to the fourth temporal we know) captured the imagination of the general public and gradually became a source of inspiration in all arts and sciences, turned into a metaphor for the amazing and mysterious. The fourth dimension appears in the works of Oscar Wilde, F. M. Dostoyevsky, Marcel Proust, HG Wells and Joseph Conrad; it contributed to the creation of some musical works by Alexander Scriabin, Edgard Varèse and George Antheil. This dimension fascinated such famous personalities as the psychologist William James, the writer Gertrude Stein, the revolutionary and socialist Vladimir Lenin.
The fourth dimension inspired Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, had a significant impact on the development of cubism and expressionism - two of the most prominent trends in the art of the 20th century. Historian Linda Dalrymple Henderson writes: “Like black holes, the “fourth dimension” has mysterious properties that even scientists themselves cannot fully understand. However, the impact of the 'fourth dimension' idea was far greater than that of the black hole hypothesis or any other scientific hypothesis put forward since 1919, with the exception of relativity."
Mathematicians, too, have long been intrigued by alternative forms of logic and incredible geometry that defies convention and common sense. For example, the mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who taught at Oxford University, delighted generations of schoolchildren with books, publishing them under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll and weaving unusual mathematical concepts into the text. Falling down a rabbit hole or passing through a mirror, Alice finds herself in Wonderland - an amazing place where the Cheshire Cat disappears, leaving only a smile, magic mushrooms turn children into giants, and Hatters celebrate "unbirthdays". The mirror somehow connects Alice's world to another country where everyone speaks in riddles and common sense isn't all that common.
Part of the inspiration for Lewis Carroll came from ideas most likely drawn from the great German mathematician of the 19th century. Georg Bernhard Riemann, who was the first to lay the mathematical foundations of the geometry of multidimensional spaces. Riemann changed the course of mathematics in the next century by demonstrating that these universes, however outlandish they may seem to the uninitiated, are absolutely self-consistent and obey their own internal logic. To illustrate one of these ideas, take a fairly thick stack of sheets of paper. Now imagine that each leaf is a whole world that obeys its own physical laws different from the laws of all other worlds. Then our Universe is not the only one of its kind, but one of many possible parallel worlds. sentient beings can inhabit any of these planes, completely unaware of the existence of others like them. Alice's pastoral English province can be placed on one sheet. On the other - a strange Wonderland inhabited by fictional creatures.
As a rule, life continues on each of these parallel planes independently of life on other planes. But in some cases, the planes intersect, for a brief moment the very fabric of space is torn, as a result, a hole or passage opens between the two universes. Similar to the "wormholes" that appear in Star Trek. Deep space nine", these passages make it possible to travel between worlds, serve as space bridges connecting two different universes or two different points within the same Universe (Fig. 1.2). Not surprisingly, Carroll became convinced that children are much more receptive to such possibilities than adults, who over time demonstrate more and more obvious rigidity in their ideas about space and logic. In fact, Lewis Carroll's Riemannian theory of multidimensionality became an integral part of children's literature and folklore, and over several decades spawned many other classics of children's literature, including Dorothy's Land of Oz and Peter Pan's Neverland.
Rice. 1.2. Wormholes are capable of connecting the universe to itself, possibly allowing for interstellar travel. Since wormholes can connect two different time periods, they can also be used to travel through time. In addition, "wormholes" can connect endless series of parallel universes. It is hoped that the theory of hyperspace will allow us to determine whether the physical existence of "wormholes" is possible or whether it is just a mathematical curiosity.
However, in the absence of any experimental confirmation or convincing physical motivation, these theories of parallel worlds as a branch of science were in danger of withering away. For two millennia, scholars have occasionally turned to the concept of multidimensionality, only to dismiss it as unverifiable and therefore absurd. Although Riemannian geometry was of interest from a mathematical point of view, it was rejected as useless, despite all the thoughtfulness. Scientists who dared to risk their reputation and turn to multidimensionality soon found themselves ridiculed by the entire scientific community. Multidimensional space has become the last refuge of mystics, originals and charlatans.
In this book, we will study the work of the pioneering mystics, mainly because they invented ingenious ways to help non-specialists "visualize" the possible appearance of multidimensional objects. These tricks proved to be useful in understanding how higher dimensional theories might be perceived by a wide audience.
Moreover, by studying the writings of these early mystics, we understand more clearly what was lacking in their research. We see that two important components were missing in their conclusions: the physical and mathematical basis. Considering them from the standpoint of modern physics, we now understand that the missing physical the basis is the simplification of the laws of nature in hyperspace and the possibility of combining all the interactions of nature with the help of purely geometric parameters. Missing mathematical basis is called field theory, it is the universal mathematical language of theoretical physics.
Fascinating ... The reader is stunned, inspired and looks at the world in a literally new, revolutionary way.
The Washington Post
The scientific revolution is almost by definition contrary to common sense.
If our common-sense ideas about the universe were correct, science would have unraveled its secrets thousands of years ago. The goal of science is to cleanse the object of external manifestations, exposing the essence hiding under them. Actually, if appearance and essence coincided, the need for science would not arise.
Probably the most ingrained common sense notion of our world is that our world is three dimensional. Without further explanation, it is clear that the length, width and height are sufficient to describe all objects in the Universe visible to us. Experiments with babies and animals have confirmed that the feeling of three-dimensionality of our world is inherent in us from birth. And when we add one more dimension to the three dimensions - time, then four dimensions are enough to describe everything that happens in the Universe. Wherever our instruments have been applied, from deep within the atom to the farthest reaches of galaxy clusters, we have found only evidence of these four dimensions. To publicly assert otherwise, to declare the possible existence of other dimensions or the coexistence of our Universe next to others, means incurring ridicule. Nevertheless, this deep-seated prejudice about our world, first adopted by ancient Greek philosophers two millennia ago, will fall victim to scientific progress.
This book is about the revolution in science that hyperspace theory, stating that there are other dimensions in addition to the four well-known dimensions of space and time. Physicists around the world, including several Nobel laureates, are increasingly willing to admit that the universe can actually exist in a space with a higher number of dimensions. If this theory is correct, it will revolutionize our understanding of the universe conceptually and philosophically. In scientific circles, the theory of hyperspace is known as the Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity. In an improved form, it is represented by superstring theory, which even suggests exact number measurements - ten. Three ordinary spatial ones (length, width, height) and one temporal one are supplemented with six more spatial ones.
A word of warning: the hyperspace theory has not yet been experimentally verified, and in fact it is very difficult to confirm it in the laboratory. However, it has already spread, conquered the major research laboratories of the world and irrevocably changed the scientific landscape of modern physics, giving rise to a staggering number of research papers (by one count - over 5000). However, almost nothing has been written for non-specialists, they were not told about the amazing properties of multidimensional space. Consequently, the broad masses have only a vague idea of this revolution, if at all. Moreover, glib references to other dimensions and parallel universes in popular culture are often misleading. And this is unfortunate, since the significance of this theory lies in the fact that it is able to combine all known physical phenomena into a strikingly simple structure. Through this book, for the first time, authoritative scientific point vision and at the same time understandable information about fascinating modern research hyperspace.
In an effort to explain why the theory of hyperspace has caused such a stir in the world of theoretical physics, I have taken a detailed look at four fundamental themes that run like a red thread throughout the book. These topics correspond to four parts.
In Part I, I present the early development of hyperspace theory, emphasizing that the laws of nature become simpler and more beautiful when written in more dimensions.
In order to understand how multidimensionality can simplify physical problems, consider the following example: for the ancient Egyptians, everything related to the weather was a complete mystery. What causes the seasons to change? Why does it get warmer if you go south? Why do winds usually blow in the same direction? It was impossible to explain the weather using the limited knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, who considered the Earth to be a two-dimensional plane. Now imagine that the Egyptians were launched into space in a rocket, from where the Earth is visible as an object moving in orbit around the Sun. And the answers to all the questions listed above will become obvious.
For those who are in space, it is clear that earth's axis deviated from the vertical by about 23° (the vertical is perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun). Because of this slope North hemisphere receives much less sunlight when passing along one part of the orbit and more when passing through the other part. Therefore, there is winter and summer on Earth. And since the equatorial regions receive more sunlight than the regions near the North or South Pole gets warmer as we get closer to the equator. And similarly, as the Earth rotates counterclockwise (from the point of view of someone at the North Pole), the northern, polar air is deflected to the side, moving south towards the equator. So the movement of hot and cold air masses, driven by the Earth's rotation, helps explain why winds tend to blow in the same direction, depending on where we are on Earth.
In short, the rather vague laws of weather are easy to understand if you look at the Earth from space. Therefore, in order to solve the problem, go out into space - third dimension. Facts incomprehensible in " flat world”, suddenly become apparent when the Earth is considered three-dimensional.
The laws of gravity and light can also look like they have nothing in common. They are consistent with different physical assumptions and mathematically calculated in different ways. Attempts to “pair” these two forces invariably fail. But if we add one more dimension - fifth- to the previous four (space and time), then the formulas that determine light and gravity will converge like two pieces of a puzzle. Essentially, light can be explained as vibrations in the fifth dimension. In doing so, we will see that the laws of light and gravity will be simplified in five dimensions.
Therefore, many physicists are now convinced that the traditional four-dimensional theory is "too narrow" for an adequate description of the forces that characterize our Universe. By adhering to the four-dimensional theory, physicists are forced to “compress” the forces of nature in an uncomfortable and unnatural way. Moreover, this hybrid theory is incorrect. But, if we operate with a number of dimensions exceeding four, we have enough “space” to find a beautiful, self-sufficient explanation for fundamental forces.
In Part II, we develop this simple idea by emphasizing that the theory of hyperspace may be able to unify all known laws of nature into unified theory. Thus, the theory of hyperspace is capable of crowning the achievements of two millennia. scientific research, combining all known physical forces. Perhaps it will give us the holy grail of physics - the "theory of everything" that has eluded Einstein for so many decades.
For the past fifty years, scientists have wondered why the fundamental forces that hold the cosmos together - gravity, electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces - are so strikingly different from each other. Attempts of the greatest minds of the XX century. to present a big picture of all known interactions have failed. And the theory of hyperspace makes it possible to give a logical explanation for both the four forces of nature and the seemingly random set of subatomic particles. In hyperspace theory, matter can also be viewed as vibrations propagating through space and time. From this follows a fascinating assumption: everything that we see around us - from trees and mountains to the stars themselves - is nothing but vibrations in hyperspace. If this is true, then we have the opportunity to elegantly and simply describe the universe in terms of geometry.