Physics and the Impeller Drive

First a bit of background:

A wheeled vehicle pushes against the earth. For a given power level, as speed goes up, the amount of push goes down, which is why we have gears. The top sustained speed occurs when forces from friction, etc. balance the reduced push force.

A rocket pushes against its own exhaust, and increases the speed and momentum of the unburned fuel as it accelerates. The amount of fuel is limited, which constrains the time it can accelerate, thus top speed.

A jet pushes against the air moving through the engine. The mass flow increases as speed increases, especially in the supersonic realm when air cannot move out of the way. The top sustained speed is limited by heating from friction and compression, primarily in the engine intake. This is why there is so much interest in SCRAM jets, because there is much less intake compression, thus less heating, and a much higher top speed.

The Impeller drive, as described, has none of these limits. So where does the power come from?

Current theory states that empty space is not nothing, but rather a sea of virtual particles. I don't understand the theory, but IIRC, some minor experimental results indicate this may be real. Some speculation says it may even be possible to tap into that energy, although the uncertainty formula of momentum x position, also rendered as energy x time makes it unlikely. Given Heisenberg, it is not possible to say the cosmos started as a quantum fluctuation using current science because the time such energy can exist is extremely small.

Speculate that these empty space energy particles actually exist. Speculate further that the virtual particles have a large spectrum of velocities. Then speculate that the impeller drive sets up conditions where it reacts ONLY with those virtual particles whose velocity is close to that of the drive at that given instant. The impeller drive is then pushing against these, and in effect getting its power from the "empty space" energy. The power that runs the drive is not producing the acceleration directly, but goes into setting up the conditions which "link" into those particular virtual particles.

This is pure speculation, of course, since we are talking about fiction.

Impeller drive would be so cool. Instant very high acceleration. Lets key in on how the impeller drive might maybe kinda work. All of this is just non sense so do not take any of it too seriously.

Maybe the impeller drive works by creating a bubble around the ship which inside the bubble the laws of physics work normally? But ... the bubble itself insulates the entire ship from reality?

The entire warped bubble of time space within which the ship is embedded then can be controlled in various ways. Perhaps one of them is the ability to warp the bubble creating "motion"?

Instant acceleration? Everything fine inside the impeller drive bubble. To outside observers the ship can move quite quickly and instantly. The power comes from the fusion reactors.

Then converted to plasma which powers the impellers which do the warping of space within which the ship is embedded? Beats me. But ... we do have hundreds of years to go for this to happen.

DDHvi wrote:First a bit of background:

A wheeled vehicle pushes against the earth. For a given power level, as speed goes up, the amount of push goes down, which is why we have gears. The top sustained speed occurs when forces from friction, etc. balance the reduced push force.

A rocket pushes against its own exhaust, and increases the speed and momentum of the unburned fuel as it accelerates. The amount of fuel is limited, which constrains the time it can accelerate, thus top speed.

A jet pushes against the air moving through the engine. The mass flow increases as speed increases, especially in the supersonic realm when air cannot move out of the way. The top sustained speed is limited by heating from friction and compression, primarily in the engine intake. This is why there is so much interest in SCRAM jets, because there is much less intake compression, thus less heating, and a much higher top speed.

The Impeller drive, as described, has none of these limits. So where does the power come from?

Current theory states that empty space is not nothing, but rather a sea of virtual particles. I don't understand the theory, but IIRC, some minor experimental results indicate this may be real. Some speculation says it may even be possible to tap into that energy, although the uncertainty formula of momentum x position, also rendered as energy x time makes it unlikely. Given Heisenberg, it is not possible to say the cosmos started as a quantum fluctuation using current science because the time such energy can exist is extremely small.

Speculate that these empty space energy particles actually exist. Speculate further that the virtual particles have a large spectrum of velocities. Then speculate that the impeller drive sets up conditions where it reacts ONLY with those virtual particles whose velocity is close to that of the drive at that given instant. The impeller drive is then pushing against these, and in effect getting its power from the "empty space" energy. The power that runs the drive is not producing the acceleration directly, but goes into setting up the conditions which "link" into those particular virtual particles.

This is pure speculation, of course, since we are talking about fiction.

1) The impeller is non-Newtonian. You're talking about push and push is a Newtonian concept. the ship - or drive, is not pushing against anything.

2)The impeller gravity drive creates a condition of being pulled inside a controlled gravitational field in the direction created by the field

3) The impeller bands are slopped as to create a field which pulls the ship downhill. The throat is wider than the tail, the opposite of what a real life gravity field would look like, though it gives the "look" of falling downhill between 2 mirrored slopes.

4) Power for this comes a breach in reality, not in the manner "Zero Point energy", False vacuum energy, Many Worlds, Quantum dot, or any of the Dark Matter Energy theorists have mentioned, but siphoning off the energy in a hyperspace plane which has a 1:64 ratio with our reality. While similar to other theories, this is unique to, and specific to, the Honorverse physics.

This was thought of at a time when these theories (and the science behind them) was just beginning to be observed, so comes from a much more primitive (and unique) standpoint, which doesn't really have much in common with reality, though it is well defined, observes normal, understood physics outside itself, and is internally consistent.

Like missile controls and computer systems, the Honorverse was invented at a period in the late 80s/early 90s and it's basics are a factor of that time - both in what was viewed technologically and scientifically.

Shh! It's not the honorverse computers that are so big. It's the cooling systems for them

Actually that's probably not that silly an explanation. Especially when you factor in coverage for battle damage.

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Theemile wrote:

snip

While similar to other theories, this is unique to, and specific to, the Honorverse physics.

This was thought of at a time when these theories (and the science behind them) was just beginning to be observed, so comes from a much more primitive (and unique) standpoint, which doesn't really have much in common with reality, though it is well defined, observes normal, understood physics outside itself, and is internally consistent.

Like missile controls and computer systems, the Honorverse was invented at a period in the late 80s/early 90s and it's basics are a factor of that time - both in what was viewed technologically and scientifically.

Points very well taken. The creator of a universe, whether fictional or real, defines the rules for that universe. In the real universe, one seems to be that when something comes from "outside" the universe, such as an act of true free will, once inside, it must then begin to follow said framework, ie choices have consequences. Of course, it would be possible to define the rules as a lack of rules, but randomness of rules isn't really very interesting. Or understandable