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Old 04-24-2012, 09:32 PM   #71
lwcamp
 
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
Default Re: Wormholes in Space

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Originally Posted by Sindri View Post
What does quantum mechanical mean in this context? Like casimir effect stuff instead of normal stuff only with negative mass?
well, probably everything is quantum mechanical and there is no way around it. But we are not entirely sure, since we don't have a quantum theory of gravity.

In any event, "normal stuff with negative mass" would have several unpleasant properties. Normally, an electric field will do work on charged particles by moving them in the direction of the force the field applies. With negative mass, the particle will move opposite the force and will thus do work on the field. The field will gain energy while the negative mass particle speeds up (gaining negative kinetic energy, if you will). This means that any light (which is an electromagnetic field) will be amplified in a very short distance to immensely destructive intensities while simultaneously evaporating the negative mass stuff into a plasma. This cascade of light amplification will be triggered even by quantum fluctuations of the vacuum, so even keeping it in complete darkness will not save you.

Luke
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Old 04-24-2012, 09:44 PM   #72
Sindri
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Default Re: Wormholes in Space

Quote:
Originally Posted by lwcamp View Post
well, probably everything is quantum mechanical and there is no way around it. But we are not entirely sure, since we don't have a quantum theory of gravity.

In any event, "normal stuff with negative mass" would have several unpleasant properties. Normally, an electric field will do work on charged particles by moving them in the direction of the force the field applies. With negative mass, the particle will move opposite the force and will thus do work on the field. The field will gain energy while the negative mass particle speeds up (gaining negative kinetic energy, if you will). This means that any light (which is an electromagnetic field) will be amplified in a very short distance to immensely destructive intensities while simultaneously evaporating the negative mass stuff into a plasma. This cascade of light amplification will be triggered even by quantum fluctuations of the vacuum, so even keeping it in complete darkness will not save you.

Luke
So there is at least some room to dictate within quantum gravity?

That stuff is precisely as cool as it is annoying. I think the technical term is "starkly astounding" destructive intensities though : )
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Old 04-24-2012, 09:44 PM   #73
Pluribus
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Default Re: Wormholes in Space

I think a good uncomplicated way to resolve it is to say that the wormhole sucks.

By which I mean, when the wormhole opens it creates a gravity well that actively draws things into it. So you don't fly through the wormhole so much as you brace yourself and get pulled in.

Such a gravity well would be a bad thing to have on a planet surface as it would probably turn the planet inside out.

I don't have any theoretical physics to back this up, I just think it would work as a game world mechanic.

This assumes a wormhole that is typically closed and opened by some trigger. Either it opens every five hours and forty-three minutes, or you hit it with a plasma bolt and it opens for you. Or they could just have two always open "one way" wormholes that have permanent gravity wells.

Could also create some interesting "point of no return" scenarios if they open the wormhole and suddenly decide they don't want to go through it. IE they see the enemy fleet on the other side, but the gravity well already has them.
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