Mach's Legacy

by D. W. Patterson

  “Yeah I've got an idea. Several trillion terabytes give or take a few. More data capacity than we currently have available, on the Earth anyway.”

  “What do we do next?”

  “We beg for at least enough data storage for one globe. Then we take that and try to decipher it. That should take me a lifetime even with the help of my Emmie friend here,” he said patting the Emmie.

  2/2/2644

  Centauri Mining was a small space habitat out among the asteroids in the Centauri System. It mainly supported miners who's efforts supported the building of more space habitats. It was small for a cylindrical habitat being only one mile in radius and three miles long.

  The “brilliant globe” of light, as one of the inhabitants described it, appeared in the dark sky as the lighting of the habitat was manipulated into night and day. The globe, which was estimated to be two meters in diameter, moved slowly at first and then began tearing up and down the length of the space habitat. Its seemingly random path left either a fire or damaged buildings behind.

  As the habitat spun beneath it the globe continued sinking striking even more buildings and eventually demolishing residential housing. Looking back at the incident many realized that instead of it being a random destruction the thing seemed to have been programmed to scour the inside surface of the habitat clean.

  Fire, greatly feared in a space habitat, had been carefully planned for and most of those started were soon suppressed by built-in fire fighting systems. Those out in the open fields or forests were handled by drones and on the scene personnel. Injuries were high from fire and building failures. Some were even vaporized by the globe itself.

  And the globe continued its back and forth sweeping of the habitat as it began to burrow into the ground fill. Those that witnessed the phenomena at this stage estimated that the globe was around a meter in diameter. It was later realized that the thing had been shrinking as it plied its destructive path.

  The rate the thing shrank became even greater as it became in permanent contact with the ground. The resultant destruction, a pall of thickening dust and burnt cinders, spread throughout the habitat. The air purification system for the habitat fell behind, in buildings not too greatly damaged the local air systems could make up the difference but still many suffered from the bad air which was becoming unbreathable.

  Perhaps the luck that saved the habitat from complete destruction was that in scouring the habitat the globe had descended at a very shallow angle. Once it began burrowing through the denser ground cover it lost energy quickly and eventually dissipated before breaking open the habitat. Had it continued and ripped open the habitat along its length such damage would have completely destroyed it and killed most of the occupants.

  The incident aboard Centauri Mining brought a great outcry from the citizens of the other space habitats for their governments to do something. At first because of the globe's resemblance to Elias' ball lightning experiment the press was quick to implicate him. Calls for his arrest were only thwarted when the facts of the two incidents were compared. The Centauri Mining globe had been much larger than the ball lightning which was at most a foot in diameter. The behavior of the globe was more deliberate than the drifting of the ball. And finally at the time of the globe's rampage Elias could be firmly placed at his home with several witnesses that could corroborate that he had run no more experiments since. Eventually the press moved on to implicate other targets, usually the military.

  “It's a hard decision,” said Elias to his wife Burgess. “I think the experiment is important especially after this latest incident. It's obvious to me that the Beleni caused it and the two spaceship incidents. We need to know how these things work so that we can defend against them. But I must guarantee that the experiment is one hundred percent safe. We were just lucky that only property was damaged last time.”

  “Well if I know you dear you've already started to come up with a solution.”

  Elias smiled, “You know me well don't you. Yes the idea came straight out of the latest incident. Ground fill around the walls, on the roof and under the floor so that no matter which way the plasma ball might drift it will be extinguished before it can escape into the larger habitat. But it will take time and money to modify the lab for such an experiment and I don't know how much time we have.”

  “You mean you expect another one of these globe attacks Elias?”

  “I'm afraid so. The Beleni are getting better at projecting the plasma and controlling it.”

  He stopped a moment.

  “Control is the key. That will be the crux of our defense.”

  “But dear isn't Eric's work crucial to controlling the plasma ball?”

  “It is.”

  “But he's only thirteen years old.”

  “He is,” said Elias with conviction.

  Eric had been working for a couple of weeks on the new electronics design. He thought that Emmy would be pleased. Not only had he met the requirement for fast response but he had also added a look-ahead technique in the device that used the measured inertia in the change of the current to predict the value of the magnetic field.

  The electronics itself would be carried in a capsule designed by Emmy. The capsule was made of a meta-material which would float in the space between the confined plasma and the circulating super-currents where the magnetic field lines were strongest. Pick-up from a small, attached coil in the changing magnetic fields would provide the power while the capsule protected the electronics from the harsh environment.

  Eric could understand how they could control the direction of the original launch vector but he didn't understand how Dr. Mach planned to control the direction after launch. But he was sure that if anyone could then Elias Mach would be the one.

  They were ready to test with just one problem. Elias had agreed to inform the research department of the Assembly of the Centauri System, which was a loose federation of the habitat's governments that coordinated all military research, and get its approval before doing anymore tests. He had done so but still had not heard anything back.

  “Did you contact their office again Emmy?”

  “Yes grandfather. Same result, they are waiting for a decision from the head of the security department and will inform us as soon as they receive it.”

  The next sphere appeared in the original Centauri habitat which had ceased to be used but was kept as a kind of monument to the original settlement of the system. The security system alerted to the intrusion but was quickly silenced. Once the custodians of the habitat discovered what was happening they radioed but the message was cut short. By the time the partial message was received and a ship dispatched the habitat was breaking up. The responding ship found only a debris field, the crew was obviously dead.

  Within a week five more habitats were struck though none as badly as the original Centauri habitat. The Assembly of the Centauri System scheduled an emergency meeting. The meeting was on Centauri Two and since Elias was considered the expert on the matter of the plasma globes he was invited to attend. It was towards the end of the meeting when Elias' name came up.

  “And I've no doubt,” said the Assembly Chairman after praising Elias' work, “that if we ask Professor Mach he will offer us some sage advice about how to counter this menace.

  “So Professor I ask you, how is your research into this phenomena coming?”

  Elias slowly rose and moved to a microphone in the aisle.

  “Assembly Chairman Moor there seems to be some confusion in this matter. I have been waiting now for several weeks for the Assembly's approval to continue my research. I'm afraid I have no more to add to our knowledge of the phenomena than I had over a month ago.”

  There was a great deal of surprise expressed loudly by the delegates which the Assembly Chairman gaveled to submission. The delegate from the Centauri Mining habitat rose to be recognized.

  “Assembly Chairman Moor I can't believe what I have just heard. What could the government of the Assembly be think
ing? Have they not read about the destruction my habitat faced? They keep our one chance to counter this phenomena inactive? This is an outrage!”

  The Assembly once again erupted into a loud cacophony of voices which the Assembly Chairman could not quiet for several minutes.

  Finally he said, “Members of the Assembly I ask for your consideration, please. Council Chairman Richter from the New Hope habitat is here, he is responsible for the Department of Research, I'm sure he can speak to your concerns. Council Chairman Richter if you please.”

  Richter rose to general silence interrupted by some subdued vocal criticism.

  “Assembly members if you will allow me. I had no knowledge of Professor Mach's situation I can assure you. I'm afraid there has been a failure somewhere in my chain of command. But I also assure you that effective immediately Professor Mach will have all the support he needs from my government.”

  There was general applause as he sat down but the Council Chairman looked none to pleased by what he had just been put through.

  Chapter 14

  Wormhole Physics 101, 8th Edition, by Dr. Elias Mach

  Copyright 2640 C.E.- Chapter 3, Page 79

  Quantum Entanglement and Spacetime

  Spacetime is now known to be an emergent property of quantum entanglement, the “spooky” action at a distance effect that links two (or more) particles together in a quantum state. If we have two particles and we measure a property of one of the particles, such as spin angular momentum, then the spin angular momentum is known for the other particle, no matter how far away from the first particle the second has moved.

  It must be remembered that the measured property did not have a fixed value before measurement, it only assumed the value at the moment of measurement, and because the distant particle was entangled with the measured particle then it also assumed the complementary value at the same time, i.e. “spooky” action at a distance.

  Thus entanglement knits together spacetime through particles sharing a common quantum state. Breaking of this entanglement can lead to spacetime disruption which will be covered later in Chapter 4.

  Once given the okay by the government Elias hurried to get the experiment back on track. Everyday there were new globes of plasma appearing somewhere in the Centauri System and besides the material damages people were being injured and killed. Now that the government had given its approval, results were expected overnight.

  With the help of Emmy, Dag and Eric the next experiment was soon ready. It would be primarily a test of Eric's electronics.

  He was monitoring his electronics through a wireless link which was ingenuously designed considering the electromagnetic noise coming from the ball of plasma just a few inches away. Since this noise was so intense Eric was actually using it rather than trying to shield from it. By modulating the noise he was able to create a signal that the receiver electronics could demodulate into a data stream.

  Elias looked at each of them and got a nod or a thumbs up to proceed. He turned on the current generator which topped off the charge on the isotopics. When the charge was sufficient Elias dumped the current into the superconducting rings. The skyrmion sphere rang as the superconducting rings accepted the currents.

  After a few seconds he looked at Eric who nodded his head. Elias then brought up the electronics monitoring program. Soon he was able to recognize the force vectors on the many rings of the skyrmion. At this point he prepared to inject the plasma made from carbon dioxide molecules. The sphere began to glow with an interior white light.

  The electronics recalibrated and started using the modulated plasma noise to broadcast. It was only a moment until the data stream renewed. It looked like Eric's electronics was going to work.

  With everything going well Elias was about to start the experiment. He intended to adjust the ring currents in such a manner as to change the magnetic fields and cause the sphere to move in a known direction. It still wasn't clear how the skyrmion detached itself and became self-sufficient but that would be an object of interest for the next test.

  Elias adjusted the currents, immediately the electronics responded with the new readings. The plasma seemed to be shifting its position to the right. Elias adjusted the ring currents again and the plasma moved back to the left. He was just about to try another direction when a large glowing globe of plasma appeared in the lab room.

  To protect the experiment Elias dumped the currents and a loud thump was heard from the lab. Elias yelled at Dag to kill the current generator as he headed to the lab to save the apparatus. He asked Emmy to shut down the computers and other electronics. Eric being close to the lab door followed Elias into the room to rescue his electronics relay box.

  The large globe was stationary in the corner of the room just beneath the ceiling. Elias avoiding it hadn't noticed that Eric was right behind him. He made for the sphere and began disassembly. Eric was pulling the cables on his electronics box. No one noticed the globe had begun drifting toward the center of the room.

  Elias heard the sound of the swirling globe of plasma coming up behind him. As he turned to locate it he saw Eric.

  “Eric run, get out of here, quick!”

  Just then it was as if the globe bounced. It shot to the ceiling and exploded. The tons of reinforced materials and ground fill fell to the floor. Elias caught Eric in his arms to shield him when they were both knocked off their feet and buried under the debris.

  The hospital waiting room was full. Burgess was there with Emmy and Dag. Eric's parents had been informed and were on their way. Burgess' and Elias' parents were also there along with their grandmothers. Others from the university, Elias' students and former students and teams from every news outlet in the Centauri System. Many more were out in the hall and throughout the hospital.

  Soon a pair of interns came in asking for the immediate families. They soon had the family down the hall in another room when a doctor came in.

  “Mrs. Mach?”

  “Yes?” said Burgess.

  “Mrs. Mach may I see you over here?”

  They moved to a corner of the room.

  The rest tried not to notice except for Emmy who watched the pair closely.

  The doctor was talking quietly to Burgess when she gasped aloud. Emmy immediately moved to Burgess' side who began to sob quietly. As Emmy held Burgess the doctor whispered his news to her also.

  “Dead?” gasped Emmy.

  The others rushed over and began talking. Emmy guided Burgess to the nearest chair. The women gathered around Burgess while the men began to discuss the news with the doctor.

  Even with the ongoing destruction the death of Elias Mach was big news. He had not only died trying to discover the secret of the destructive plasma globes he had also died trying to save the life of a young boy, which he had accomplished. Eric had been shielded by Elias' body and except for being bruised had come out unharmed thanks also to Dags quick efforts to dig the pair out.

  Eric's parents were now in the habitat taking care of him. Burgess was devastated, as was the rest of the family, but rallying. Emmy had put school own hold while she sorted out her feelings.

  Dag accompanied Emmy to the meeting in the New Hope habitat that Assembly Chairman Moor and Council Chairman Richter of New Hope had requested two weeks after Elias' funeral.

  “Thank you for coming Ms. Gibbs. And you also Dag,” said Moor. “Council Chairman Richter and I both want to express our deepest sympathies for the loss of your grandfather and friend. Indeed it was a loss for the entire Centauri family.”

  Richter was nodding his head while Moor spoke.

  “Thank you Assembly Chairman Moor,” said Emmy. “I speak for the family when I say we are appreciative of the government's support in the past few weeks.”

  “You are more than welcome Ms. Gibbs. Now to come to the reason for this meeting. Ms. Gibbs we have reason to believe your grandfather has already provided us with the means to our defense in what is called the Mach Barrier. Are you familiar with the term
?”

  “I'm not sure.”

  “Miss if I may,” said Dag. “The Mach Barrier was Elias Mach's answer to the attack on the Centauri System during the First Aggie War over a hundred years ago. The Belenos faction used a similar, though much cruder, weapon to attack the habitats back then. Elias came up with a way to block the casting of a wormhole mouth by the Beleni which was their method of delivering a unconstrained plasma, not confined in a globe like their current weapon. It was crude but quite effective.

  “Elias' method would generate a near wormhole mouth and then unlike usual instead of casting the far wormhole mouth some distance away Elias would cast it to the same coordinates as the near mouth.

  “The energy density of the mouths would cause the disruption of spacetime in their vicinity. By making one mouth larger than the other the area between would hold the disrupted spacetime instead of allowing it to spread.

  “The idea was similar to gravity waves bouncing back and forth in a black hole between the event horizon and the Cauchy horizon. There was a bit of leakage through the outer wormhole mouth but not enough to cause problems.

  “The barrier if created between the attacker and his target prevents the establishment of a far wormhole mouth by the attacker because it can not be cast through the disrupted spacetime of the barrier.”

  “Thank you Dag for that excellent description of what we have called you both here to discuss. Ms. Gibbs do you think you can reproduce the Mach Barrier?” asked Moor.

  “Well sir, I'm not sure, at least not as quickly as we would like. You see I'd have to study my grandfather's papers. But I think we are overlooking someone that could bring the Mach Barrier online much faster.”

  “Really?”