On Faster than light travel

On the range of ships

a little history of mine

When I started writing in the GC Universe.I was 15 and still a few yearsaway from University and my chosen field of studies.

Star Wars was still a new sensation, Star Trek the original on TV and my all time favorite show. Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers were on as well (but I never liked them much )

The internet was years away (My first computer was a ZX81 from sinclair) I first logged on to the internet when it was called gopher net with dial up, text only.

I was reading, perhaps two three books a week and every science fiction I could get my hands on. Harrison, Heinlein, Clark, Simak. Leguin, Silverberg, Blush, Niven and Asimov my favorites.

I never wanted my ships simply go translight and completly ignore Einstein. The acceleration phase of the Millenium Falcon looked cool but those few seconds would have made Han Solo arrive at his destination by the time the Death Star would be scrapped as an old timer and Darth Vader died of old age by then.

The Enterprise was more believeable but still neclected the time factor. Some of my writing heroes especially Clark and Assimov either used that as plot part and had their ships accelerate for month etc.

As I studied physics much later. I realized how complicated and by standard physics (of that time) impossible to go FTL. But it also opened my mind to the fact that Einstein, no matter how brilliant and accepted his theories are, they are in fact Theories. The great Heisenberg, Otto Hahn along with Oppenheimer and the forementioned Einstein (to name a few) represented and defended their view of a Universe based on absolutes, constants and that the aspects that made their conclusions a theory simly yet to be discovered physic laws. Along came Max Planck, Schroedinger et.al with a completly different approach., approaching the Quantum theory in a different way. While it was a theory just as well and the Einstein/Heisenberg etc. camp bitterly refuted and dismissed it (creating basically two schools of thought) Max postulated that the   two theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity (For which he did  not receive his Nobel prize btw) He postulated that states (of all conditions) achieved are only then so if observed (Famous Schroedinger's cat thought model) This can actually be demonstrated in a lab where light behaves like a particle and changes its state to that of a wave (very simplified to put it in two sentences).

With all that said, with scientists slowing light speed to walking speed in a medium of frozen Beryllium (e=mc2 is still intact) Light is still the fastest to anything that shares the same medium, but it is in the same universe. the scientist moves at many times the speed of light in his lab.

Making the speed of light a variable (at least for that beam created in that lab) But how about all light. Is light itself and compared to the Universe a constant or a variable) While the answer is no if you take the definition of speed as given. Speed is defined by how long it takes an object (photon for example) to travel from point a to point b in a monodirectional two dimensional determined distance in space. But if you could change the time (not the time factor) but the actual time property and if you could alter time from a factor into a variable you alter space and e=mc2 becomes as variable as chewing gum.

(This is in a nutshell the idea behind ISAH drives . the Isah field alters the local time condition (around the ship) and maintains real (universal base time) within the ship.)

Now FTL in the GC Universe

Travel

Hyper Jump - Hyperspace jumping bypasses standard space by the transition ino another space time condition. The Hyperspace in my Universe is not just a fancy word of Handwavium to get the story rolling but I tried to base it on at least some speculative physics (granted it is still handwavium but with a little thought behind it) Hyper space or alternative or paralell space is a mathematical possibility and part of the Quantum theory. It is also a postulated medium to explain the behavior of exotic particles. A certain type of speculated particles seem to exist in two planes of space at the same time or "vibrate" between the two realities (Quantum state is defined as 'either', 'or' and 'neither' at the same time) This could account for the so called missing mass [1] in the Universe. Another fundamental question that has not been answered : what is energy? Everyone uses that word, there are Energy producers and Energy providers. But what is energy (there is no one who can explain to you what electricity is!)

They can describe it, they can measure it, and define the electromagnetic spectrum but no one can really say what Energy is, what makes a magnet a magnet , what gravitation is. Go ahead and ask whoever you like Wikipedia, physicists, people anyone. They can describe it but not define it by itself (Just as no one can describe the state of Zero by itself. You can only describe it by the asence of everything else)

I am loosing myself down too many rabbit trails. Back to Hyperspace.

Planets and suns create depressions in spacetime (so called gravity wells) and Hyperspace travel is jumping from gravity well to gravity well. Since there is no steering or course altering possible in Hyperspace (I explain why if you want) Hyper Jump has to aim for the next gravity well before the jump and initiate and hoping to hit it (Hyperspace navigation is correctly called Hyperspace ballistics. Like an artillery shell once it is on its trajectory it can no longer be altered (of course there are now end phase steered munitions but I am talking about a cannon ball or a thrown rock)

The cast off point must be exact to hit the rim of the gravity well exactly. Hitting its center is to appear in the local star (see my pageon hyper jumps) The Hyper Jump method can only travel from Star to star. Distances of 100 -1000 or even more are nearly impossible as the margin of error increases with distance (and no other gravity well can be in between)

Quasi Space

Skimming real space in a hypothetical space condition that exists between space and hperspace. Like the skin of latex of a balloon seperating the gas inside from the air outside. It is a hybrid condition of space and transition layer between real space and realspace.

The Isah Engines create a field of super symmetry (wrap bubble- It is my version of the Star Trek Warp drive) and allows the same engines to accelerate the ship in real and quasi space. As the exhausted gases can be accellerated faster than light) But the engines need to create propulsion and thus spend fuel ( Hyper jump is created like a flash by accummulating energy that creates a temporary rift/ hole in space and the accummulated speed and direction is taken along) There is a finite supply of fuel aboard a ship (the volume of fuel is decreased by molecular compacting to extend the quantity of fuel that  can be taken along) The alligment must be symmetrical. Since the propulsion is physical there is material wear.This material wear affects that alligment and once it exceeds the tolerances it must be serviced.

Quasi Space drive allows course directions, visual and scanner observation as it orients it on the space "below" it.

Hyper Space Tunneling

(Space Trains, Worm holes, Einstein Rosen Bridges, Ancient Gates, Black light tunnels, SII Space drills

This is a short cut between two points in space via an alternate spacetime. (Space Trains / Black light tunnels create their own temporary sub space universe but instead of a sub space pocket it has two openings) Worm holes and Ancient Gates create a Tunnel through space time. Connecting two points in space via another space time continuum (Hyper or Sub space) the object passing through is pushed or sucked through (experienced travel time can last a few seconds or minutes ) Propulsion is applied externally.

SII Space Drills is a currently developed FTL travel system that creates a temporary einstein rosen bridge before a space ship by "drilling" holes in the fabric of space allowing an object to pas through.

Teleportation is based on the same principle where a object is sucked through a higher medium to reapear at another point of space.

Alycia side steps real space by passing through the Nether planes (Negative Space)

to come to a conclusion. Long after I created the Universe I realized just how big space is and that the Union in all the size is still miniscule to the size of the Galaxy. Travel times are longer and without Hyper Jump Highways it would take a ship from Green Hell to Sares many weeks.

I hope this explains why I decided to limit range and how I came by describing FTL in my Universe

Now there are exotic particles postulated that indeed exceed the speed of light and

[1] Missing Mass aka the Dark Matter theory and the Big Bang theory are subject to controversy and another article of mine