Astronomy / Space Quantum entanglement, communications, and interstellar travel

[saviornt]

Eventually, we will nail quantum theory, and along with it, quantum entanglement. QE is interesting, in the fact, that a particle will change its state at the exact same time as another "sister" particle. At some point in the future, we will discover a way to use this phenomena to transmit instant binary data. You know, the stuff that makes up the internet? Anyways, if you've followed me thus far, I shouldn't need to explain it.

Now, let's get into interstellar travel. At a point between now (rocket fuel) and using wormholes / bending space-time, we will have developed an engine that goes an x% of the speed of light. Not even a xx%. Just an x%. Once we do this, being an interplanetary species is within reach; and this may be closer than you might imagine.

Put the two together, and what do you have? The potential for a grandfather paradox, that's what!

Why? Well.. Einstein said it best.. relativity.

The people in the ship would be going slower through time than we on earth would be. So what happens if we, on earth, see the ship with all the people, say.. run into an asteroid and everyone on board dies. Only.. at the same instant (would say, "at the same time" - but that does not apply... so "instant" it is), the people on board the ship are still alive.

They are dead.. to us.. but to them, they are alive. Weird.

So what does that have to do with QE? We know that in the same instant that we see them die, that they are still alive. So we give them a ring using our Samsung Note QE, and say, "Hey, you might want to avoid that asteroid, move a little to the left".

Right.. so.. yea. You can see where the paradox is. So.. can this happen? If it did, then what happens? This is the stuff that keeps me up at night

On a side note, QE Communications would mean an end to spying, as if it is intercepted, the "hash" of the data would be changed, thus, different than it originally was (you would need some form of hash negotiation in the stack). It would also mean that we could view our.. umm.. "youtube videos" faster than now

 

[Surfinjo]

With respect, the assumption that these theories can ever be utilised in this way is speculative at best.

The so called grandfather paradox, it is an example of faulty thinking.

Every aspect of reality now is a consequence of events that came before. What is passed is finished. It is not a static event, which can be returned to and any theory which say it is is evidently faulty.

If by some means an earlier event were to be altered then the reality we have now would be altered as well. However unfair it may seem.

If I somehow manage to go back in time and kill my father for example, I will cease to exist. The paradox was claimed to be that if I kill my father I can't have existed. But I clearly did, up until the point that I killed my father. I have simply created a parallel reality up to the point that I went back and killed my father

If parallel reality is to be dismissed then the concept of going back in time must also be dismissed since one is impossible without the other.

The issue is quite logical and sometimes logic leads us to strange conclusions. But provided we follow the logic then its consequences must be accepted.

The paradoxes created by Quantum theory are examples of its failings. It is a theory only in as much as it seems to explain some observations, with some success. But its many flaws are the reason it must eventually be dismissed. The enthusiasm with which some undergraduates seize upon the consequences of Quantum theory are more a feature of the undergraduate that the theory.

 

[saviornt]

Thinking about it a bit more.. it occurred to me that there would need to be an "order" to things. In the example I provided, you're not "turning back" time, just merely experiencing time dilation.

Now, the question becomes, do particles experience time dilation as well? If they do, then the paradox cannot happen. If they do not experience dilation, then it can happen. I suspect that the "laws of nature" prohibit us from creating paradoxes, whether complete denial of the method used to create it, or by creating parallel realities. I suspect, that the universe physics operate on "keep it simple stupid".. and would make it so that particles experience the same time dilation that we experience when travelling at super fast speeds. It would be "easier" to do this than to create parallel universes.

But hey, what do I know.. I'm not exactly a theoretical physicist.. I'm just a meek computer repair tech.

 

[Surfinjo]

Time dilation would be expanding time. Since time itself is a function of gravity, then it is, by definition variable.

We we observe someone falling into a black hole they will appear to slow then almost stop. It doesn't mean they will stick there forever, but that the photons will appear stationary at the event horizon because of the effect the enormous gravity has upon light.

Current understanding is based upon two partially conflicting theories, Relativity and Quantum mechanics. But exhibit some proofs, but not sufficiently to allow them to dismiss the other.

What is needed is a new theory, but for that, there would need to be someone who is capable of taking the leap in thought that, for example, Einstein did.

In the mean time science fiction writers, often backed by specious qualifications, have been making quite incredible predictions, particularly relating to light speed but also reversing time.

Neither is likely to be possible. There is no indication or hint that any such notions could become reality. The effects observed in the quantum mechanics create a lot of quite incredible results, including travelling back in time. But it doesn't mean it will or can ever happen. It is very unlikely.

Sadly, quite a number of these students, armed with some qualifications, seek to make money by writing preposterous books. It basically just intellectual prostitution. But, overall, harmless.

http://physicsforidiots.com/space/black-holes/