Welcome to PF, Jarod.JarodY said:
Do ionic thrusters or pulsed microwave thrusters fall under the 'similar' category? Also, if what I was looking for was in the published literature, I wouldn't need to resort to asking for help on forums, right?berkeman said:Welcome to PF, Jarod.
Be sure to read the PF rules that you agreed to (see INFO at the top of the page). Reactionless Drives and similar are on the forbidden topics list. Be sure that any topics you want to discuss here are published in the mainstream literature, and please always include links to your reading when asking technical questions. Thank you, and enjoy PF!
Ion propulsion is being done. It's solidly mainstream. Pulsed microwave...not sure. If you mean EM Drive, then yes, that's reactionless and banned.JarodY said:
The vast majority of the population doesn't know/understand the current state of the art. That's predominantly who this forum is for. It is not here for original research publication. That's what journals are for.
I don't know. Is that like "laser propulsion"? (which is fine) Can you post a link?JarodY said:
It depends on how comfortable and practiced you are at finding reliable technical links. We have some tips in the PF Rules for where to look for reliable peer-reviewed articles (like T/R), and of course we are happy to help you find good links. We are all about helping folks learn mainstream science.JarodY said:
Octonions are a type of mathematical object called a hypercomplex number, similar to complex numbers but with 8 components instead of 2. They were discovered in the mid-19th century by mathematician John T. Graves and later developed by Arthur Cayley.
Octonions have been proposed as a way to model the complex interactions and forces involved in alternative propulsion systems, such as anti-gravity and faster-than-light travel. Some scientists believe that Octonions may hold the key to understanding and harnessing these types of propulsion.
Octonions are unique in that they are the only normed division algebra that is not associative. This means that the order in which operations are performed matters, making them more complex and difficult to work with compared to other mathematical objects.
While Octonions have not yet found widespread practical applications, they have been used in some areas of theoretical physics and have potential for use in fields such as quantum mechanics, string theory, and computer graphics.
Some scientists have criticized the use of Octonions in alternative propulsion ideas, arguing that they are not supported by empirical evidence and may be based on flawed interpretations of mathematical concepts. However, others argue that exploring new ideas and theories, even if they are not yet proven, is an important part of scientific progress.