Can an AMDrive really work for space travel?

Paul M. Sutter Is an astronomer Sunni Hosted by Stony Brook and Flatrin Institute Ask a spaceman And Space radio, And the author of How to die in space. He contributed this article to Space.com Expert Voice: Thoughts and Insights.

“EmDrive“Claims to make the impossible possible: a method of pushing a spacecraft unnecessarily – without a system. Not a system. No exit. Just put it in, set it on fire and you’re on your way to your dream destination.” Can.

But AmDrive doesn’t just violate our basic understanding of the universe; Experiments claiming to measure effectiveness have not been repeated. When it comes to AMDrive, keep dreaming.

Microwave of the future

It goes by different names – AMDrive, Q-Drive, RF Echo Cavity, Impossible Drive – but all avatars of the device claim to do the same thing: throw some radiation inside a closed room, and Presto-Chango. You can get a prep.

It’s a big deal, because in all its forms Rocketry Speed needs to be maintained (and in fact, all kinds of motion in the universe). To set yourself in motion, you have to push yourself out of something. Your feet push off the ground, airplanes push themselves out of the air, and rockets push their own parts (such as an exhaust gas) out of the rear to push them forward.

But EmDrive doesn’t. It’s just a box with a microwave inside, bounce around. And it is believed to be able to change itself.

Explanations of how AMDrive could possibly work go beyond the boundaries of known physics. Maybe it’s talking somehow Quantum vacuum Space-time (although the quantum vacuum energy of space-time does not allow anything to go out of it). Perhaps our understanding of speed is broken (although there are no other examples in the entire history of our experiment). Perhaps this is somewhat new physics, as illustrated by Amdrive’s experiments.

Don’t play with speed

Let’s talk about the speed part. Speed management is fairly straightforward: in a closed system, you can capture the moment of everything in that system. Then they negotiate. Then you will reassemble all the items. The total speed at the beginning should be equal to the total speed at the end: the speed is safe.

We’ve had the idea of speed control for centuries (it’s also influenced by the famous second law of the ton), but in the early 1900’s it got a new status. The brilliant mathematician Amy Nother proved that speed control (along with other conservation laws such as con consent) is a reflection of the fact that Our universe There are some similarities.

For example, you can choose a suitable location for a physics experiment. Then you can experiment with your physics, take it anywhere in the universe and repeat it. As long as you accept the difference in the environment (say, different air pressure or Area of gravity), Your results will be the same.

This is a symmetry of nature: physics does not care where the experiments take place. Knother realized that this symmetry of space leads to direct motion control. You can’t have one without the other.

Therefore, if AMDrive violates the maintenance of activities (which it claims to do), then this basic similarity of nature must be broken.

But from almost every physical theory The rules of ton ton In quantum field theory, represents spatial symmetry (and dynamic maintenance) in its base equations. In fact, most modern theories of physics simply re-examine the dynamics of dynamics. Breaking this symmetry will not be just an extension of well-known physics – it will take centuries to fully understand the functioning of the universe.

Universe: Now massively in 10 easy steps

The reality of the experiment

It’s certainly not impossible (scientific revolutions have happened before), but it takes a lot of conviction to make it happen.

And the experience so far has not been all that satisfactory.

Since the introduction of the AMDrive concept in 2001, every year a group claims to measure the net power coming from their device. But these researchers are measuring an incredibly small effect: a force so small it can’t bind even a single piece of paper. This important statistic leads to uncertainty and measurement error.

In fact, out of all the published results, none measured “other than qualifying for the difficult publication”, let alone anything significant.

However, other groups have developed their own amdrives, trying to replicate the results, as good scientists need. Attempts at replication either fail to measure anything, or find some confusing variables that can easily explain the parents’ minor results, e.g. Cabling interaction in equipment with the earth’s magnetic field.

So here we have it, almost 20 years after the initial AmDrive proposal: a bunch of experiments that haven’t really been delivered, and no explanation (plus “let’s go ahead and break down all the physics, the last 100 Violate every other experiment. Years “) How can work.

Space travel, revolution in physics-space travel or pipe dreams? It is very clear which side nature is on.

Learn more by listening to the episode Can “EmDrive” Really Work? Ask A Spaceman on the podcast, available iTunes And on the web http://www.askaspaceman.com. Thanks to Michelle L. For the questions that lead to this piece! Ask your own questions by following #expressman or Paul on Twitter Palmetster And facebook.com/PululMattSutter.