Ok, we know, you will have some folks saying all these posts are science fiction. When they claim this, just remind them that their physics models can’t say anything sensible about all the mysteries solved by The New Physics: a unified model of gravitation and nuclear forces, the size of the hydrogen nucleus, the binding energy curve, and all the other topics we have covered. Until they can resolve these issues through their own models, The New Physics model remains a strong contender as an accurate model of reality.
One of the unfortunate unintended consequences of the old physics is its influence on fiction. If you write a science fiction story based on incorrect models of the universe, its not just fiction, it’s fictional fiction! A typical and all too-frequent example of such abuse are the tales based on the “multiverse”. The philosophical problems in Quantum Mechanics lead to the notion that there are an uncountable number of parallel Universes. A new pair of Universes is kicked off every time a photon makes the decision to be a particle or a wave. In one Universe it is the particle; in the other the wave. Each photon of light: two more Universes. Of course, nearly by definition the reality of this model cannot be verified, since we seem to ever be in only one Universe at a time. As we have mentioned, recent experiments which observe the same photon as both a particle and a wave has given the lie to this model. This makes these tales − entertaining though they may be − closer to fantasy than science fiction.
In order to set the field on a better track, let us suggest a couple of new options for for our venerable sci-fi writers.
One is the possibility − fairly common in many science fiction stories − for faster-than-light travel (aka FTL.) By The New Physics model, is this possible? If so, how would it work?
The New Physics model tells us that particles are bubbles in space. Light would travel across such a bubble instantaneously. So to go any distance faster than light we would have to first make a long bubble in space. The technological hurdles here are at least:
- Finding a way to support such a bubble tunnel without having it collapse, in other words, getting pretty good at building very long structures of quarks or the equivalent. After mastering the creation of designer atoms, we need to get good at designer quark structures.
- Finding a way to keep it straight over a significant distance. There may be a practical limit to this, making it important to be able to chain bubble tunnels together with repeaters. The bubble tunnel itself would not be enough: it would need to be surrounded by shielding to protect it from space debris.
- Finding enough energy somewhere to make a bubble and its supporting quark structure that long.
- Finding a way to convert any matter passing through the bubble tunnel(s) into photons, and back into matter at the other end. The computing power required to make this work would be (literally) astronomical.
Sticking with The New Physics model, item 3. above might be achieved by mining the dark energy in the center of a large black hole. Getting the energy out of there would also be tricky. The sequence might be: (1) making a drill out of designer atoms along the lines of a carbon nanotube, but strong enough to resist the gravitational collapse of the black hole so it could drill to the center; (2) drilling to the center of the black hole to tap the dark energy therein; (3) releasing the dark energy into the space outside the black hole to create the bubble tunnel inside the supporting structure constructed to surround it.
We think there is such a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Unfortunately this is 26,000 light-years from Earth, so at sub-light speed to get there would take a while more than 26,000 years. Perhaps enough time to solve the daunting engineering problems just outlined.
Another basis for more realistic science fiction is the concept of a “black hole bomb”. I’m sure this has appeared in science fiction already, but The New Physics makes such an idea more realistic. By The New Physics model, black holes are just made of neutrons. So, it is not difficult to imagine fabricating two or three clumps of neutron matter, each of which is too small to collapse into a black hole on its own. These would have to be manufactured in space, since lifting them from a planet would be challenging. So you “just” keep them separate until you can toss them at the offending target, making sure they join up close to the target. Once the segments get together and the black hole forms, the target is sucked into it. Poof! No more target. And no nasty nuclear pollution to worry about after the event. Every significant advance in physics seems to bring with it a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD); for The New Physics, it’s the Black Hole Bomb.