ALT.SF4M

  Jump drive ==> G waves

   • m*******e@a****.***u.edu
     17/08/1996 00:00:000 UTC

     Jump drives should cause gravitational distortions which, given
     sensitive

     equipment, would allow the use of such drives to be detected. For
     example,

     a starship produces a weak gravitational field. If the ship disappears,
     it

     will no longer be there to maintain this field, so the field will
     suddenly

     drop to zero where the ship was. This lack of a field will propagate
     outward

     in all directions at the speed of light. Similarly, when the ship
     reappears,

     a gravitational field will be produced in its vicinity, and this field
     will

     spread outward at the speed of light.

     If the jump drive distorts space (to create a wormhole or some such), it

     should probably produce gravitational waves when it does so. These might

     have a distinctive pattern, allowing the type of drive, identity of the

     civilization which built the drive, or some other such to be determined.

     --- Brian

     It's useful to discuss ideas with others, who will quickly point out
     when one

     is wandering into the domain of quackery.

       • j********o@***.com
         24/08/1996 00:00:000 UTC

         Herr Sterner is vacationing in fabulous "FermiLand," so his
         technical

         advice is currently unavailable (to us). I don't know the physics,
         but

         the waves might be of a large magnitude, as a substantial mass is

         appearing or disappearing. This assumes that ships in hyperspace
         don't

         gravitate, of course. Even without gravity waves, it would be
         possible to

         detect the change in the gravitational field due to the

         appearance/dissappearance of the ship, given arbitrarily sensitive

         measurement techniques (actually, the body of your message, on

         reexamination, seems to be about this rather than gravity waves per
         se:

         unless gravity waves are simply oscillating fields, which I don't
         think

         they are).

         Gorno