Drawing dark energy from space as a power source

[dbaezner]

Hi. I was wondering if someone could tell me whether there is any reason to believe that one might eventually (distant future) draw power from dark energy or dark matter as a power source for spaceships.

Thanks.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Are you writing a story? Are there any specific works of fiction you want to discuss? If the answer is no and this is a general physics question then it is not compliant with this sub forum's rules:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/science-fiction-and-fantasy-reviews-forum-rules.680313/

 

[dbaezner]

It is for a science fiction novel. I'm looking for a source of energy to power spaceships and am interested as to whether dark matter or dark energy could ever provide such power.

Thanks

 

[jackwhirl]

How large of a chunk of space are you imagining you'd like to draw energy from? Wikipedia is saying the density of dark energy is $10^-27kg/m^3$, meaning you would need a lot of space to get anything useful out. (Think volume of the sun.)

Dark matter is a little different. We're not sure yet what it is. If the current speculation about primordial black holes is on the right track... I say go for it.

 

[Algr]

The "dark" in dark energy and dark matter is the "we don't know" kind of dark. Like the dark ages or darkest africa. For a story you are better off going to absolute technobabble rather than trying to include some verbage from a pop sci article. (For example, a lot of stories with space elevators are in trouble now.)

Perhaps your ships manipulate Lotrons - the elementary particle of location!

 

[dbaezner]

Yeah, Wikipedia blew dark energy out of the water for me. I was hoping someone had a different point of view to that in the article.

Thanks for the link about dark matter. I'm not sure how to leverage primordial black holes as a power source. How is it that these black holes aren't seen swallowing gas all across the sky?

Thanks
Dirk

 

[newjerseyrunner]

Thanks for the link about dark matter. I'm not sure how to leverage primordial black holes as a power source. How is it that these black holes aren't seen swallowing gas all across the sky?

They're black and most would have evaporated by now.

I use dark energy in one of my stories as a power source, but I don't really explain how or why it works.

 

[Narayanan KR]

Hi debaezner..instead of dark matter look for zero point energy or virtual particle flux...if you make movie about infinite power..then the "capitalist " won't be happy...remember what happen to tesla?