Is Reflective Fiction a Potential Problem for Starships at High Speeds?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion highlights a potential issue for starship design when traveling near the speed of light, specifically the dynamic Casimir effect. This phenomenon suggests that a reflective surface on a starship could generate photons as it approaches relativistic speeds, creating a drag that would need to be countered by the ship's engines. Concerns are raised about whether this drag would be negligible compared to other forces, such as friction from interstellar gas and dust or electromagnetic radiation effects. Additionally, the limited presence of reflective material in the vastness of space is questioned, considering the immense energy output required for a starship's propulsion system.
dbmorpher
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While the main problems of a functioning starship are commonly known such as energy requirements and radiation I have realized another problem when near the speed of light.
The dynamic Casimir effect occurs when a reflecting object reaches relativistic velocities.
Therefore a starship with a reflective bow will produce photons when the velocity approaches c.
So a drag will occour as the ship speeds up.
This drag could be used to slow the ship down but just like an airplane it must be overcome with force from the engine.
I don't know if this is the correct section to post in or even if my idea is right (I haven't done the math yet) but I just wanted you all to know of this possible problem.
 
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dbmorpher said:
So a drag will occur as the ship speeds up.
1] Is there any reason to think this drag would not be swamped to several orders of magnitude by friction from interstellar atomic gas and dust?
2] Is there any reason to think this drag would not be swamped to several orders of magnitude by the vanilla doppler-hardened EM radiation?
3] Space is awfully black. Just how much reflective fiction could there possibly be? The powerplant of this spaceship puts out more energy than a significant fraction of a civilized planet.
 
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