I've been reading a book lately that does a pretty good job of summing up our macroscopic ideas of physics. Basically it explains in multiple parts how we understand how things work. These laws of physics explain and allow for everything from why we stand upright and why chemical reactions occur to why it's considered impossible to create a perpetual motion device.
While I've been reading this book, I've been continuing a pet project of mine, that of writing a science fiction novel. In order for the universe in which I write to exist, as a civilization we have to be able to travel faster than light. My theories have been based on solid physics but have come up against some hurdles. The perceptual hurdles don't concern me as I can explain them easily. The main hurdle to my theorized method has been working out the mathematical mechanics for what I envision as a FTL drive. I need this equation to put proper limits on how fast or far a ship can travel. In several chapters of this book, it brushes against my theory reinforcing it but at the same time stating the problem that I keep running into.
When I try to work out the mathematical formula for FTL travel (a formula explaining the amount of energy required to travel a certain distance) I find that I keep ending up with results that violate common sense and all logic. To put it in layman's terms, the results of all my equations end up either as failing to achieve FTL velocities or create large leaps that end in infinite velocities. Due to reading this book though, I was given a source to look at where others are trying to solve the same equations. Looking to their equations, they are having the same problems that I experience and they are recognized experts in mathematics, physics, and quantum mechanics.
Oddly, this doesn't discourage me based on my theory of an FTL drive. Instead, I find more validation for my theory to work. Despite the failure in mathematics, the results suggest a 5th force in nature and is the very heart of the physics of my drive.
Almost everyone is familiar with Einstein's Theory of General Relativity (E=MC2) - note that 2 means squared. The problem is that most people believe this theory is gospel and can be used to explain everything. However his theory is very specific and can be easily violated with the laws of quantum theory. Furthermore, Einstein pretty much just defined Gravity as we understand it. I have to state now that most physicists seem think we don't really understand the true laws of Gravity. The search for the Higgs-Bosum particle is an example of the search for greater understanding. This so called "God Particle" would explain gravity at the quantum level. If a particle is found to explain quantum gravity, it will probably destroy Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
I don't have what is considered a classical education in physics. By most scientists I would be considered a layman. Honestly speaking, without doing the research of reading books and papers such as the current book, I wouldn't even have the common language by which to discuss my theories. Still, nothing discovered or canonized by modern physics invalidates my theories. Not only that, many physicists have similar theories that are just missing one or two components. These necessary steps that are incorporated into my theory make it possible for a layman to postulate a theory that has eluded science for generations, how to travel faster than the speed of light.
Hopefully I will one day have my novel published with the science intact. Maybe it will inspire a scientist to look in a new direction and lead to our development of this futuristic technology. Although I admit the techniques are too advanced for our current tech level, travel using my theories may one day become the standard for interstellar travel. Since Michael Faraday, a layman hasn't had such an effect on science on such a scale.
Is this optimism or delusions of grandeur again?
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