Leaving the scientists' sandbox
Photonic or radiation pressure, theXperiment
When
a beam of laser light bounces off a mirror, is pressure created? Simply put, can light push a mirror?
Say YES and you are the case Y. If photons of light have real energy, then a beam of laser light packs enough punch to enable the actual measurement of the photonic (aka radiation) pressure on the mirror's surface. This is no rocket science. Say NO and you are the case N. A photon is massless and, despite the mainstream scientists' pronouncements, the case for photonic pressure is not clear cut. NASA PhDs have equations (and degrees) galore but no laser beam experiment to back them up. Yeah, they refer to the Russian 1901 experiment that "something moved," but this and other demonstrations are all pre-laser. This ain't rocket science. |
|||||
The preliminaries |
|||||
Photons of light may or may not have inertia -- that is, photons may or may not have momentum -- either linear and/or angular. The implications are great and the result will set the tone and direction for the Third Millennium. Y: Hard science types have been smug in their dismissal of the ether by saying "Show me" for hundred years now because -- once photons are presumed to have the real punch of its momentum -- the ether just isn't there N: Other science types wonder why such a straightforward laser-on-mirror experiment was not performed. Are the hard science types at the end of a rope and just cannot look down?
|
Behind the case Yes and No is something else: ether. If you said Yes you most certainly don't like ether and any of its complications. Yet, while
Case
Y: Ether is dead the real idea is to: |
||||
Let the mirror move where it may |
|||||
theXperiment will demonstrate if a beam of laser light can move a mirror. Laser beam's bouncing off the surface might produce pressure that could be measured if such pressure exists. Y: The absence of ether -- or some kind of medium -- necessitates that the real energy and momentum of light is present with light at all times. Each and every photon would then carry its own momentum. Therefore, a mirror must move as light bounces off a mirror and puts force at rebound. N: The presence of ether calls for light to negotiate, or "compute," its propagation through the distance of space. Light's energy need not become real until the photon is absorbed. Because a mirror does not absorb light, a mirror will not move even though light reverses direction. You will note that all demos of laser-induced movements rely on photonic absorption. More recent cases are: (1) optic fiber bends even more after light passes through it*, or (2) a bubble of liquid moves after a laser is directed at it, or (3) something moves when a laser heats up gas near its surface (which is a variation on light mill). Of course, any heating by laser is prima facie evidence of absorption. If you want to examine or argue any claims, all you need to ask is, "would it continue to work the same way in a vacuum and without heat?" It should if the photonic pressure exists. What is funny here is that scientists have historically been parading on the side of the truth. They would expose "frauds" of all kinds, from spirit séances to stage magic. But they are as phony as a three-dollar bill in regards to the photonic pressure. It is the very basic scientific incompetence that shifts the light bouncing pressure problem into contexts where the needed light absorption is unspoken or nicely tucked away (up in a sleeve). *___ If the fiber is bent and damaged, the absorbed light in the damaged side of the fiber will cause the fiber to heat up and expand -- and bend some more. To resolve the Y/N question you want to use a mirror. If a fiber optic cable visibly moves and you are the case Y, then there is enough force in it to move a mirror directly (and without absorption).
|
|||||
Implications |
|||||
Y: Mirror moves, pressure from light's photons exists As you were. (In muggle speak, 'radiation pressure' exists.) The photon sail (or solar sail) experiment would be a real undertaking even though in your travels you will account for every inch of distance. The idea behind theXperiment is not only that it is inexpensive but it is simple enough to be conclusive. It should certainly be performed before the photon sail project is funded. But you may suspect something is not right because JPL and NASA are talking about equations and not about testing the photon sail concept on a mirror in the laboratory. or N: Mirror does not move, photons of light cannot impart pressure on a mirror Light's momentum is virtual. Mathematically, photon's momentum is imaginary. It's a whole new world out there. Ether can be worked.
.. hold
infinity in the palm of your hand .. William Blake If the mirror does not move, photons of light do not and cannot force the mirror to move or put pressure on a mirror. Photon's pressure does not manifest at reflection and light's momentum is, physically and naturally, the virtual momentum. A hunch comes from light speed measurements. Repeated bouncing of a photon among mirrors does not slow light down -- that is, if one lightspeed measurement bounces light a thousand times while another just once, the measurement of lightspeed is not affected. A photon, then, is massless and cannot be modeled as a spring that slows down and speeds up again during reflection that could then "transfer momentum." |
|
||||
Talk is cheap, Feynman is cheaper |
|||||
Case Y: If the experiment would prove the absence of photon's pressure -- well, lets give the audience a theory showing otherwise Give the interested people something to chew on and without needing to get off their chairs. Yes, it would be a theory that sits well with billiard balls and maybe you'd snare a few converts. And so it happened that a theory by Feynman is being publicized that claims a photon approaching a mirror surface is absorbed but then another photon of identical energy is created and so the photon is effectively reflected but there then also exists the mechanism for the two-fold momentum creation -- one at absorption and one at creation. Not bad as theories go. Case N: A theory is nice but if you pursue the truth then a guy like Feynman is just another guy So where is the weakness of this theory? If you know something about light speed measurements, you will not have to leave your chair either. You start with the photon (re)creation: Every photon has a beginning and an end and that means that the creation of every photon takes finite time. So there would a delay at the bounce (hey, but so what). However, light speed measurements are done by bouncing a photon between mirrors. Now, whether you bounce the light just once or ten thousand times, the light speed you end up measuring is the same. There is no delay when a photon reflects from a mirror and hence there is no absorption and retransmission of a photon at a bounce. |
|
||||
Talk is cheap. Speech is free if you work at it |
|||||
It could be that all books written on solar sailing are but chronicles of our futile effort to build the perpetual motion machine -- or worse, subscribe to dead head and dead end science -- or worse yet, get funding for made-up, make believe science. NASA scientists and private US interests from Space-dot-com encourage Russians to test solar sailing. Russians, in turn, use their submarine missiles to launch and test their rocketry -- but the photon sail module somehow "fails to deploy." It is not possible to argue that NASA is playing cat and mouse with the Russians. Such deception mentality then just dummies down our own work and I can imagine NASA turning down people offering breakthrough science. The point is that NASA and Space-dot-com can pretend all they want but without understanding the real deal they can only pretend they know but will never deliver because they do not know what could be delivered. Space-dot-com are but fantasy publishers who attract clowns for pseudoscience, and for a price raise self-serving hoopla for NASA contractors. |
|
||||
The gateway question |
|||||
There is a question that can launch a thousand ships: "If the photonic energy does not have inertia, how would that change the way we look at the world?" The admission of the existence of ether is not primary, for it is about the opportunities. Launching ShipOne: If energy does not manifest through light's inertia and a photon has no momentum to give at reflection or refraction -- what kind of energy are we talking about? Launching ShipTwo: If light has no pressure then a laser has no recoil |
|||||
|
|||||
Pathological science |
|||||
Lasers powerful enough to directly measure the presumed pressure light imparts at reflection are available since the mid-1960s. The official Western science is in denial for over fifty years now. If a scientist cannot confirm facts because he or she cannot face up to reality -- and cannot do an experiment for half a century -- we are dealing with pathological science at its best: The best example of pathological science in the history of the world. It is the best of the bad science. Presently, the scientist will direct microwaves or a laser onto everything and anything in order to claim that "something moved." But they are all staying away from a mirror, for a mirror will not absorb light as heat and will not move. The mirror presents the platform where the theoretical and the actual could be compared to many decimal places. Jungian psychology might work on the "fear of the mirror," as corruption is prevailing over advancement for a very long time. [Yes, Bunky, mirror properties are feminine.] The basic premise is that the (laser) photons must not reduce as heat -- that is, imparting of the beam needs to be on a mirror. If the photons reduce as heat then force readily arises -- such as when photons are absorbed by gas at the surface of the light mill -- but that is not what this experiment is about and (of course) there is no gas at the surface of solar sails. The amounts spent pursuing solar sailing and its derivatives the likes of black holes, gravitational waves and neutrinos are so large the perverted science has a life of its own. If it is not possible to reform the Soviet style don't-upset-things-by-asking-questions-stupid, the spending of no return is what will happen and NASA will remain grounded or be dismantled. |
|
|
Go
or select another topic from the gold post
HyperFlight home Portal
in new window
© 2000 -- 2013 Backbone Consultants, Inc. Copyrights Information
Last update June 17, 2013