Can a Spacecraft Achieve Light Speed Using Jupiter's Magnetic Field?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the feasibility of a spacecraft achieving light speed using Jupiter's magnetic field and the Lorentz force. It is suggested that by activating an electric charge, a spacecraft could gain speed through the magnetic field, potentially reaching light speed after surpassing Jupiter's escape velocity. However, participants clarify that according to special relativity, no object with mass can reach or exceed the speed of light in a vacuum. The conversation also touches on concepts like Cherenkov radiation and virtual photons, which complicate the discussion of light speed but do not provide a means for a spacecraft to exceed light speed. Ultimately, the consensus is that while intriguing, the proposed method cannot violate the established laws of physics regarding light speed.
sr241
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I heard that light speed is attainable for a spacecraft from Jupiter's magnetic field and by Lorentz force. in this concept electric charge is turned on in a spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and Lorentz force caused by Jupiter's high magnetic field causes spacecraft to rotate around Jupiter faster and faster; when light speed is attained electric charge is turned off and spacecraft shoots through space at light speed.

my question is this; is any velocity higher than Jupiter's escape velocity is possible to attained by the above said concept?

I strongly feel that after attaining escape velocity of Jupiter, spacecraft will shoot to outer space: am I correct?
 
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sr241 said:
I heard that light speed is attainable for a spacecraft from Jupiter's magnetic field and by Lorentz force. in this concept electric charge is turned on in a spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and Lorentz force caused by Jupiter's high magnetic field causes spacecraft to rotate around Jupiter faster and faster; when light speed is attained electric charge is turned off and spacecraft shoots through space at light speed.

my question is this; is any velocity higher than Jupiter's escape velocity is possible to attained by the above said concept?

I strongly feel that after attaining escape velocity of Jupiter, spacecraft will shoot to outer space: am I correct?

Bud, SR forbids *all* travel through space at or faster than the local value of C. Put another way, you can never go as fast or faster than light through a given medium.

Escape velocity from Jupiter does not equal escape velocity from the sun.
 


FalseVaccum89 said:
Put another way, you can never go as fast or faster than light through a given medium.

Sure you can. Cherenkov radiation is a direct result of particle traveling faster than light through a medium. The key is that nothing can ever exceed c, the speed of light in a vacuum, and nothing with invariant mass can ever reach c.
 


Drakkith said:
Sure you can. Cherenkov radiation is a direct result of particle traveling faster than light through a medium. The key is that nothing can ever exceed c, the speed of light in a vacuum, and nothing with invariant mass can ever reach c.

Intriguing. . . Your comment spurred me to do some more digging, and it appears that virtual photons (per QFT) don't even have to travel at c over short distances.

Richard Feynman said:
...there is also an amplitude for light to go faster (or slower) than the conventional speed of light. You found out in the last lecture that light doesn't go only in straight lines; now, you find out that it doesn't go only at the speed of light! It may surprise you that there is an amplitude for a photon to go at speeds faster or slower than the conventional speed, c."[4] These virtual photons, however, do not violate causality or special relativity, as they are not directly observable and information cannot be transmitted acausally in the theory. Feynman diagrams and virtual photons are usually interpreted not as a physical picture of what is actually taking place, but rather as a convenient calculation tool (which, in some cases, happen to involve faster-than-light velocity vectors).

Thanks for setting me straight!
 


FalseVaccum89 said:
Intriguing. . . Your comment spurred me to do some more digging, and it appears that virtual photons (per QFT) don't even have to travel at c over short distances.

Hmmm...it may be better to leave virtual particles out of any talk of the speed of light, as things tend to get...confusing if you bring them up anywhere but the QM forum. Well, not even then, as things still get confusing.
 
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