EmDrive works! Paddle plunged into the universe

Physics is almost on the edge of the abyss. In November 2016, NASA published a scientific report on EmDrive testing at Eagleworks Laboratories (1). In it, the agency confirms that the device produces traction, that is, it works. The problem is that it is still unknown why it works ...

1. Laboratory system for measuring engine thrust EmDrive

2. Writing a string to EmDrive during testing

Scientists and engineers at NASA Eagleworks Laboratories approached their research very carefully. They even tried to find any potential sources of error - but to no avail. Them the EmDrive engine produced 1,2 ± 0,1 millinewtons of thrust per kilowatt of power (2). This result is unobtrusive and has an overall efficiency many times lower than that of ion tubes, for example, Hall thrusters, but its great advantage is difficult to dispute - it does not require any fuel.Therefore, there is no need to take with you on a possible trip any fuel tank, “charged” with its power.

This is not the first time researchers have proven that it works. However, no one has yet been able to explain why. NASA experts believe that the operation of this engine can be explained pilot wave theory. Of course, this is not the only hypothesis trying to explain the mysterious source of the sequence. Further studies will be required to confirm the scientists' assumptions. Be patient and be prepared for subsequent claims that EmDrive (3)… It really works.

It's about acceleration

The EmDrive case has been accelerating and accelerating like a real rocket engine over the past few months. This is evidenced by the following sequence of events:

• In April 2015, José Rodal, Jeremy Mullikin, and Noel Munson announced the results of their research on a forum (this is a commercial site, despite the name, not affiliated with NASA). As it turned out, they checked the operation of the engine in a vacuum and eliminated possible measurement errors, proving the principle of operation of this engine using them.
• In August 2015, the results of a study by Martin Taimar from the Technical University of Dresden were published. The physicist said that the EmDrive engine did get thrust, but this is not proof of its operation at all. The purpose of Taimar's experiment was to test the side effects of earlier methods used to test the engine. However, the experiment itself was criticized for inaccurate conduct, measurement errors, and the announced results were called a "play on words."
• In June 2016, German scientist and engineer Paul Kotsila announced a crowdfunding campaign to launch a satellite called PocketQube into space.
• In August 2016, Guido Fetta, founder of Cannae Inc., announced the launch concept for CubeSat, a miniature satellite equipped with Cannae Drive (4), that is, in your own version of EmDrive.
• In October 2016, Roger J. Scheuer, inventor of the EmDrive, received UK and international patents for the second generation of his engine.
• On October 14, 2016, a film interview with Scheuer was released for International Business Times UK. It represents, among other things, the future and history of the development of EmDrive, and it turned out that the US and British Departments of Defense, as well as the Pentagon, NASA and Boeing, are interested in the invention. Scheuer provided some of these organizations with all of the technical documentation for the drive and demonstrations of the EmDrive delivering 8g and 18g thrust. Scheuer believes that the second-generation EmDrive cryogenic drive is expected to have a ton-equivalent thrust, allowing the drive to be used in almost all modern cars.
• On November 17, 2016, the above-mentioned NASA research results were published, which initially confirmed the operation of the power plant.

4. Cannae Drive aboard the satellite - visualization

17 years and still a mystery

5. Roger Scheuer with a model of his EmDrive

The longer and more accurate name of EmDrive is RF resonance resonator motor. The electromagnetic drive concept was developed in 1999 by British scientist and engineer Roger Scheuer, founder of Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd. In 2006, he published an article on EmDrive in New Scientist (5). The text has been heavily criticized by scholars. In their opinion, a relativistic electromagnetic drive based on the presented concept violates the law of conservation of momentum, i.e. is another fantasy option about.

but Both Chinese tests a few years ago and those conducted by NASA in the fall seem to confirm that movement using electromagnetic radiation pressure on the surface and the effect of electromagnetic wave reflection in a conical waveguide leads to a force difference. and the appearance of traction. This power, in turn, can be multiplied by Lair, placed at an appropriate distance, a multiple of half the length of the electromagnetic wave.

With the publication of the results of the NASA Eagleworks Lab experiment, controversy has revived over this potentially revolutionary solution. The discrepancies between experimental findings and actual scientific theory and the laws of physics have given rise to many extreme opinions about the tests carried out. The discrepancy between optimistic claims of a breakthrough in space travel and open denial of the results of research has led many to think deeply about the universal postulates and dilemmas of scientific knowledge and the limitations of scientific experiment.

Although more than seventeen years had passed since Scheuer's disclosure of the project, the British engineer's model could not wait long for reliable research verification. Although experiments with its application were repeated from time to time, it was not decided to properly validate them and test the methodology in a specific scientific study. The situation in this respect changed after the above-mentioned publication of the peer-reviewed results of the experiment in the American laboratory Eagleworks. However, in addition to the proven legitimacy of the adopted research method, from the very beginning, the whole range of doubts was not dispelled, which actually undermined the credibility of the idea itself.

And Newton?

To illustrate the extent of the problem with Scheuer's engine principle, critics tend to compare the author of the EmDrive idea to a car owner who wants to make his car move by pressing against his windshield from the inside. The inconsistency thus illustrated with the fundamental principles of Newtonian dynamics is still regarded as the main objection, which completely excludes the credibility of the British engineer's design. Opponents of Scheuer's model were not convinced by successive experiments which unexpectedly showed that the EmDrive engine could work efficiently.

Of course, one has to admit that the experimental results obtained so far suffer from the lack of a clear substantive base in the form of scientifically proven provisions and patterns. Both researchers and enthusiasts who prove the operability of the electromagnetic engine model admit that they have not found a clearly confirmed physical principle that would explain its operation as allegedly contrary to Newton's laws of dynamics.

6. Hypothetical distribution of interaction vectors in the EmDrive cylinder

Scheuer himself, however, postulates the need to consider his project on the basis of quantum mechanics, and not classical, as is the case with conventional drives. In his opinion, the work of EmDrive is based on specific influence of electromagnetic waves ( 6), whose influence is not fully reflected in Newton's principles. Also, Scheuer does not provide any scientifically verified and methodologically verified evidence.

Despite all the announcements made and promising research results, the results of the NASA Eagleworks Laboratory experiment are only the beginning of a long process of verifying the evidence and building the scientific credibility of the project initiated by Scheuer. If the results of research experiments turn out to be reproducible, and the operation of the model is also confirmed in space conditions, there remains a much more serious question for analysis. the problem of reconciling the discovery with the principles of dynamicswhile untouchable. The emergence of such a situation should not automatically mean a denial of the current scientific theory or fundamental physical laws.

Theoretically, EmDrive works using the phenomenon of radiation pressure. The group velocity of an electromagnetic wave, and hence the force generated by it, may depend on the geometry of the waveguide in which it propagates. According to Scheuer's idea, if you build a conical waveguide in such a way that the wave speed at one end is significantly different from the wave speed at the other end, then by reflecting the wave between the two ends, you will get a difference in radiation pressure, i.e. a force sufficient to achieving traction. According to Scheuer, EmDrive does not violate the laws of physics, but uses Einstein's theory - the engine is simply in another frame of reference than the "working" wave inside it.

7. Conceptual diagram of EmDrive operation

It's hard to understand how EmDrive works, but you know what it consists of (7). The most important part of the device is resonator mikrofalowyto which the microwave radiation generated microwave (microwave emitting lamp used in both radar and microwave ovens). The resonator is similar in shape to a truncated metal cone - one end is wider than the other. Due to properly selected dimensions, electromagnetic waves of a certain length resonate in it. It is assumed that these waves accelerate towards the wider end and slow down towards the narrower end. The difference in the wave displacement velocity should lead to a difference in the radiation pressure exerted on the opposite ends of the resonator, and thus to the formation vehicle propulsion. This sequence will act towards the broader base. The problem is that, according to Scheuer's critics, this effect compensates for the impact of waves on the side walls of the cone.

8. Ion engine nozzle

A jet or rocket engine pushes the vehicle (thrust) as it ejects accelerated combustion gas. The ion thruster used in space probes also emits gas (8), but in the form of ions accelerated in an electromagnetic field. EmDrive doesn't blow any of this out.

According to Newton's third law to every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, that is, the mutual actions of two bodies are always equal and opposite. If we lean against the wall, it also presses on us, although it will not go anywhere. As he speaks principle of conservation of momentumIf external forces (interactions) do not act on a system of bodies, then this system has a constant momentum. In short, EmDrive should not work. But it works. At least that's what the detection devices show.

The power of the prototypes built so far does not knock them off their feet, although, as we have already mentioned, some of the ion engines used in practice operate in these micro-Newtonian ranges. According to Scheuer, the thrust in the EmDrive can be greatly increased through the use of superconductors.

Pilot Wave Theory

The pilot wave theory was given by NASA researchers as a possible scientific basis for the operation of EmDrive. This is the first known hidden variable theory presented by Louise de Broglie in 1927, later forgotten, then rediscovered and improved David Bohm - now called de Broglie-Bohm theory. It is devoid of the problems that exist in the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, such as the instantaneous collapse of the wave function and the measurement problem (known as the Schrödinger's cat paradox).

it non-local theorythis means that the motion of a given particle is directly affected by the motion of other particles in the system. However, this non-locality does not allow information to be transmitted at a speed greater than the speed of light, and therefore does not contradict the theory of relativity. The pilot wave theory remains one of several interpretations of quantum mechanics. So far, no experimental differences have been found between the predictions of the pilot wave theory and those of the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics.

In his 1926 publication Max Born proposed that the wave function of the Schrödinger wave equation is the probability density of finding a particle. It was for this idea that de Broglie developed the pilot wave theory and developed the pilot wave function. He originally proposed a dual solution approach in which a quantum object contains a physical wave (u-wave) in real space having a spherical singular region that causes particle-like behavior. In this original form of theory, the researcher did not postulate the existence of a quantum particle. He later formulated the pilot wave theory and presented it at the famous Solvay Conference in 1927. Wolfgang Pauli however, he assumed that such a model would not be correct for inelastic particle scattering. De Broglie did not find

to this answer and soon abandoned the pilot wave concept. He never developed his theory to cover randomness.

many particles.

In 1952, David Bohm rediscovered the pilot wave theory. The de Broglie-Bohm theory was eventually recognized as the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics and represents a serious alternative to the most popular Copenhagen interpretation to date. Importantly, it is free from the measurement paradox that interferes with the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics.

The positions and momentum of the particles are latent variables in the sense that each particle has well-defined coordinates and momentum at any given time. However, it is impossible to measure both of these quantities at the same time, since each measurement of one perturbs the value of the other - in accordance with Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The set of particles has a corresponding matter wave evolving according to the Schrödinger equation. Each particle follows a deterministic trajectory controlled by a pilot wave. Taken together, the density of particles corresponds to the height of the amplitude of the wave function. The wave function is independent of particles and can exist as an empty wave function.

In the Copenhagen interpretation, particles do not have a fixed location until they are observed. In wave theory

the pilot positions of the particles are well defined, but this has various serious consequences for the whole of physics - therefore

also this theory is not very popular. However, it allows you to explain how EmDrive works.

“If a medium can transmit acoustic vibrations, then its components can interact and transmit momentum,” writes the NASA research team in a November 2016 publication. violate Newton's laws of motion."

One of the consequences of this interpretation, apparently, is that EmDrive will move, as if "pushing off" from the Universe.

 EmDrive should not break the laws of physics...

…says Mike McCulloch of the University of Plymouth, proposing a new theory that suggests a different way of thinking about the motion and inertia of objects with very small accelerations. If he were right, we would end up calling the mysterious drive "non-inertial", because it is inertia, that is, inertia, that haunts the British researcher.

Inertia is characteristic of all objects that have mass, react to a change in direction or to acceleration. In other words, mass can be thought of as a measure of inertia. Although this seems to us a well-known concept, its very nature is not so obvious. McCulloch's concept is based on the assumption that inertia is due to an effect predicted by general relativity called Unru radiationa is blackbody radiation acting on accelerating objects. On the other hand, we can say that it grows when we accelerate.

About EmDrive McCulloch's concept is based on the following thought: if photons have any mass, they must experience inertia when reflected. However, the Unruh radiation is very small in this case. So small that it can interact with its immediate environment. In the case of the EmDrive, this is the cone of the "engine" design. The cone allows for Unruh radiation of a certain length at the wider end, and radiation of a shorter length at the narrower end. The photons are reflected, so their inertia in the chamber must change. And from the principle of conservation of momentum, which, contrary to frequent opinions about EmDrive, is not violated in this interpretation, it follows that traction should be created in this way.

McCulloch's theory, on the one hand, eliminates the problem of conservation of momentum, and on the other hand, it is on the sidelines of the scientific mainstream. From a scientific point of view, it is debatable to assume that photons have an inertial mass. Moreover, logically, the speed of light should change inside the chamber. This is quite difficult for physicists to accept.

Is it really a string?

Despite the aforementioned positive results from the EmDrive traction study, the critics are still against it. They note that, contrary to media reports, NASA has yet to prove that the engine actually works. It is possible, for example, with absolute certainty experimental errorscaused, among other things, by the evaporation of materials that make up parts of the propulsion system.

Critics argue that the strength of an electromagnetic wave in both directions is actually equivalent. We are dealing with a different width of the container, but this does not change anything, because microwaves, reflected from a wider end, returning, fall not only on a narrower bottom, but also on the walls. Skeptics considered creating light thrust with airflow, for example, but NASA ruled this out after tests in a vacuum chamber. At the same time, other scientists humbly accepted the new data, looking for a way to meaningfully reconcile them with the principle of conservation of momentum.

Some doubt that in this experiment the specific thrust of the engine and the heating effect of the system treated with electric current are distinguished (9). In NASA's experimental setup, a very large amount of thermal energy enters the cylinder, which can change the mass distribution and center of gravity, causing the EmDrive thrust to be detected in the measuring devices.

9. Thermal images of the system during testing

EmDrive enthusiasts say that the secret lies, among other things, in the shape of a conical cylinderthat's why the line just appears. Skeptics reply that it would be worth testing the impossible actuator with a normal cylinder. For if there were thrust in such a conventional, non-conical design, it would undermine some of the "mystical" claims about the EmDrive, and would also support the suspicion that the known thermal effects of the "impossible engine" are operating in the experimental setup.

The "performance" of the engine, as measured by NASA's Eagleworks experiments, is also questionable. When using 40 W, the thrust was measured at the level of 40 microns - within plus or minus 20 microns. This is 50% error. After increasing the power to 60 watts, performance measurements became even less accurate. However, even if we take this data at face value, the new type of drive still produces only one tenth of the power per kilowatt of electricity achievable with advanced ion thrusters such as NSTAR or NEXT.

Skeptics are calling for further, more thorough and, of course, independent testing. They recall that the EmDrive string appeared in Chinese experiments back in 2012, and disappeared after the improvement of the experimental and measurement methods.

Truth check in orbit

The final (?) answer to the question of whether the drive works with a resonant chamber is conceived by the aforementioned Guido Fett - the inventor of a variant of this concept called Kanna Drive. In his opinion, skeptics and critics will have their mouths shut by sending a satellite powered by this engine into orbit. Of course it will close if Cannae Drive actually launches a satellite.

A probe the size of 6 CubeSat units (i.e. approximately 10 × 20 × 30 cm) should be raised to an altitude of 241 km, where it will stay for about half a year. Traditional satellites of this size run out of correction fuel in about six weeks. Solar-powered EmDrive will remove this limitation.

To construct the device, Cannae Inc., operated by Fetta, Inc. founded a company with LAI International and SpaceQuest Ltd, having experience as a supplier of spare parts, incl. for aviation and microsatellite manufacturer. If all goes well, then Theseus, because that's the name of the new venture, could launch the first EmDrive microsatellite in 2017.

They are nothing but photons, the Finns say.

A few months before NASA's results were published, the peer-reviewed journal AIP Advances published an article on the controversial EmDrive engine. Its authors, physics professor Arto Annila from the University of Helsinki, Dr. Erkki Kolehmainen from the University of Jyväskylä in organic chemistry, and physicist Patrick Grahn from Comsol, argue that EmDrive gains thrust due to the release of photons from a closed chamber.

Professor Annila is a well-known researcher of the forces of nature. He is the author of nearly fifty papers published in prestigious journals. His theories have found applications in the study of dark energy and dark matter, evolution, economics, and neuroscience. Annila is categorical: EmDrive is like any other engine. Takes fuel and creates thrust.

On the fuel side, everything is simple and clear to everyone - microwaves are sent to the engine. The problem is that nothing can be seen from it, so people think that the engine is not working. So how can something undetectable come out of it? Photons bounce back and forth in the chamber. Some of them go in the same direction and at the same speed, but their phase is shifted by 180 degrees. Therefore, if they travel in this configuration, they cancel each other's electromagnetic fields. It's like waves of water moving together when one is offset from the other so that they cancel each other out. The water doesn't go away, it's still there. Similarly, photons that carry momentum do not disappear, even if they are not visible as light. And if the waves no longer have electromagnetic properties, because they have been eliminated, then they do not reflect from the walls of the chamber and do not leave it. So, we have a drive due to photon pairs.

A boat immersed in relative space-time

Renowned physicist James F. Woodward (10) considers, on the other hand, that the physical basis for the operation of a new type of propulsion device is the so-called Mach's ambush. Woodward formulated a non-local mathematical theory based on Mach's principle. Most notably, however, his theory is verifiable because it predicts physical effects.

Woodward says that if the mass-energy density of any given system changes with time, the mass of that system changes by an amount proportional to the second derivative of the change in density of the system in question.

If, for example, a 1 kg ceramic capacitor is charged once with a positive, sometimes negative voltage that changes at a frequency of 10 kHz and transmits power, for example, 100 W - Woodward's theory predicts that the mass of the capacitor should change ± 10 milligrams around its original mass value at a frequency of 20 kHz. This prediction has been confirmed in the laboratory and thus Mach's principle has been empirically confirmed.

Ernst Mach believed that the body moves uniformly not in relation to absolute space, but in relation to the center of mass of all other bodies of the Universe. The inertia of a body is the result of its interaction with other bodies. According to many physicists, the full realization of Mach's principle would prove the complete dependence of the geometry of space-time on the distribution of matter in the Universe, and the theory corresponding to it would be the theory of relative space-time.

Visually, this concept of the EmDrive engine can be compared to rowing in the ocean. And this ocean is the Universe. The movement will act more or less like an oar that dives into the water that makes up the universe and repels itself from it. And the most interesting thing about all this is that physics is now in such a state that such metaphors do not seem like science fiction and poetry at all.

Not only EmDrive, or space drives of the future

Although the Scheuer engine has provided only a minimal boost, it already has a big future in space travel that will take us to Mars and beyond. However, this is not the only hope for a really fast and efficient spacecraft engine. Here are some more concepts:

•  nuclear drive. It would consist in firing atomic bombs and directing the force of their explosion with a “barrel” towards the stern of the ship. Nuclear explosions will create an impact force that "pushes" the ship forward. A non-explosive option would be to use a salt fissile material, such as uranium bromide, dissolved in water. Such fuel is stored in a row of containers, separated from each other by a layer of durable material, with the addition of boron, durable

  a neutron absorber that prevents them from flowing between containers. When we start the engine, the material from all the containers combines, which causes a chain reaction, and the solution of salt in water turns into plasma, which, leaving the rocket nozzle protected from the huge temperature of the plasma by a magnetic field, gives a constant thrust. It is estimated that this method can accelerate the rocket up to 6 m/s and even more. However, with this method, large volumes of nuclear fuel are needed - for a ship weighing a thousand tons, this would be as much as 10 tons. tons of uranium.

• Fusion engine using deuterium. Plasma with a temperature of about 500 million degrees Celsius, which gives thrust, presents a serious problem for designers, for example, exhaust nozzles. However, the speed that theoretically could be achieved in this case is close to one tenth of the speed of light, i.e. up to 30 XNUMX. km/s. However, this option is still technically unfeasible.
• Antimatter. This strange thing really exists - at CERN and Fermilab, we managed to collect about a trillion antiprotons, or one picogram of antimatter, using collecting rings. Theoretically, antimatter can be stored in so-called Penning traps, in which the magnetic field prevents it from colliding with the walls of the container. Annihilation of antimatter by ordinary

  with a substance, for example, with hydrogen, gives gigantic energy from a high-energy plasma in a magnetic trap. Theoretically, a vehicle powered by the annihilation energy of matter and antimatter could accelerate to 90% the speed of light. However, in practice, the production of antimatter is extremely difficult and expensive. A given batch requires ten million times more energy to produce than it can produce later.

• solar sails. This is a drive concept that has been known for many years, but is still waiting, at least tentatively, to be realized. The sails will operate using the photoelectric effect described by Einstein. However, their surface must be very large. The sail itself must also be very thin so that the structure does not weigh too much.
• Drive unit . Phantomists say that it is enough to… warp space, which actually shortens the distance between the vehicle and the destination and increases the distance behind it. Thus, the passenger himself moves only a little, but in the “bubble” he overcomes a huge distance. As fantastical as it sounds, NASA scientists have been experimenting quite seriously.

  with effects on photons. In 1994, physicist Dr. Miguel Alcubierre proposed a scientific theory describing how such an engine could work. In fact, it would be some kind of trick - instead of moving faster than the speed of light, it would modify space-time itself. Unfortunately, don't count on getting the disc anytime soon. One of the many problems with it is that a ship propelled in this way will need negative energy to power it. It is true that this type of energy is known to theoretical physics - the theoretical model of the vacuum as an endless sea of ​​negative energy particles was first proposed by the British physicist Paul Dirac in 1930 to explain the existence of predicted negative energy quantum states. according to the Dirac equation for relativistic electrons.

  In classical physics, it is assumed that in nature there is only a solution with positive energy, and a solution with negative energy does not make sense. However, the Dirac equation postulates the existence of processes in which a negative solution can arise from "normal" positive particles, and therefore cannot be ignored. However, it is not known whether negative energy can be created in the reality available to us.

  There are many problems with the implementation of the drive. Communication seems to be one of the most important. For example, it is not known how a ship could communicate with the surrounding regions of space-time, moving faster than the speed of light? This will also prevent the drive from tripping or starting.