From: Dickey, Michael F (michael_f_dickey@groton.pfizer.com)
Date: Mon Mar 11 2002 - 08:46:35 MST
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Lorrey [mailto:mlorrey@datamann.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 1:05 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: Re: Uploading
Richard Steven Hack wrote:
>
> At 03:42 PM 3/9/02 +0100, you wrote:
> >Given what we know, absolute hard limits are given by amount of energy
and
> >matter in the local solar system (anything else doesn't matter, as the
> >creation rate in a given volume soon outstrips transport rate through a
> >crossection, i.e. sufficiently large volumes are effectively isolated).
> >Before we reach them, we will have a period whether bit beings can
> >multiply faster than matter can be restructured into habitats (ms vs.
hour
> >and day range). Depending on the level of technology, it can take
hundreds
> >to thousands years to bring our local system to the hard limit.
>
> Once again, we're assuming the speed of light is an absolute limit. That
> may be true given current scientific knowledge, but that is not the same
as
> being an absolute.
"Actually, it is an absolute, since scientific progress shows no sign of
exceeding it outside of using loopholes like wormholes, etc. Experiments
in FTL all demonstrate that wavefront speeds are always restrained to
light speed."
I was under the distinct impression that it is a limitation imposed on
classical physics by general relativity. That is, one can not classically
accelerate to the speed of light, because this would require infinite
energy, and the subsequent temporal dialition and lorentz transformation
would also be infinite. Classical physics has its own domain of validity,
that of the normal and everyday, general relativity ecompasses classical
physics and also includes the very large, very massive, and very fast in its
domain of validity. However, quantum mechanics lies outside the domain of
validity of general relativity, and thus does not abide by its limitations.
Indeed, Einsteins famous paper on the EPR Paradox was an attempt to show the
rediculous implications of quantum mecahanics that obviously violated
special relativity, the paradox turned out to be an accurate description of
reality yet does indeed violate relativistic rules.
So, classically accelerating to OR past the speed of light is impossible,
however one could classically accelerate to 99.999999% the speed of light,
and then quantum tunnel to 100.000000000000001% the speed of light, and thus
travel faster then light. (Of course you would have to control the quantum
tunneleing of every particle that comprises your vehicle) There are other
possible methods of superluminal travel.
The Alcubierre Warp Drive - http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw81.html
The Alcubierre Micro-Warp Drive -
http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw99.html
John Cramers Archive is a good source for information as well...
http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/av_index_sub.html
Regards,
Matus
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