From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Sun Dec 01 1996 - 17:09:54 MST
>As I said on the page and preeviously, it has nothing whatsoever to do
>with so called "prepetual motion" "zero point energy" or any of that
>other crap.
Be careful what you throw into the "crap" category. Despite being dirtied
by the blatant abuse of crackpots, "zero point energy" (or perhaps more
correctly, "Lorentz-invariant zero point fields") is a very real phenomenon
and has significant implications both in propulsion and physics in general.
It is directly responsible for real physical phenomenon such as Van der
Waal's force and the Casimir force and generally permeates everything,
including empty space (hence the alternatively used "Quantum Vacuum").
The zero-point field (and its name) is based on initial work done by
Einstein and Stern in 1913. It was expanded by Nernst and Planck in the
1920's. Most of the additional theoretical work on the zero-point field
phenomenon was done by the Russian physicists Sakharov and Puthoff in the
1960's and 1970's as well as a some minor additions by a few other
physicists in the '70s.
The real interesting developments came circa 1991 with some independant work
by astrophysicists B. Haisch and A. Rueda on stochastic electrodynamics
(SED). They noticed a result in the mathematics that suggested that inertia
(a la F=ma) may be a direct result of the zero-point field. After
contacting Puthoff and doing additional work, they developed some very
interesting results. For further information, Haisch, Rueda, Puthoff, and
Sakharov have published several papers in Phys. Review A as well as other
physics and science journals.
(Warning: the mathematics in some of these papers is ghastly and quite
possibly masochistic! Read at your own risk!)
The results and implication of their work in a nutshell:
1) The phenomenon known as inertia is a direct result of acceleration
within the zero-point field. Modifying the zero-point field would modify
the inertial mass of an object.
2) The model, using the property of equivalence, can be shown to also be
directly responsible for the gravitation phenomenon. By modifying the
zero-point field, you could arbitrarily modify the gravitational mass and
effects of an object.
Their papers have been well received by the physics community and have been
generally considered very sound. There are a couple uncertainties in the
model they use that they have been steadily resolving. The zero-point model
*does* null certain expected (but as yet, untested) consequences of General
Relativity. NASA's Gravity Probe B, expected to be launched in 1998 will
test some of the expected differences between the GR model and ZPF model of
gravitation.
The model is currently gaining favor in that it can explain many
cosmological and physics mysteries that have been difficult to explain using
the pure GR and QM models without really creating any.
Unfortunately, modifying the ZPF is difficult, or more precisely, no one is
sure exactly how to do it. It is difficult enough just measuring it.
Empirical evidence based on experiments with single particles (such as
electrons) seems to indicate that it is possible to modify the apparent mass
of a particle through careful application of electromagnetic radiation.
However, precise control or macroscopic application is currently (to my
knowledge) unobtainable. However, I understand that techniques and
capabilities are becoming more refined.
And how do I know so much about it?
Because Lockheed-Martin, NASA, and DoD are all spending a lot of time and
money on zero-point field research. I know at least two of the above named
physicists are currently working at Lockheed-Martin R&D facilities. And I
have had the opportunity to see some of the experimental data in my tour
with these agencies.
I mean, who *wouldn't* be interested in the ability to arbitrarily modify
inertial mass and gravitation? The applications would be endless.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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