4 ms·
> At very small accelerations, the wavelengths become so large they can no longer fit in the observable universe. When this happens, inertia can take only certa
by wmeredith 11y ago
> At very small accelerations, the wavelengths become so large they can no longer fit in the observable universe. When this happens, inertia can take only certain whole-wavelength values and so jumps from one value to the next.
So the EmDrive glitches the universe size? This is hilarious.
- tremon 11y agoThis was also my first reaction. I don't see how energy could be quantized with the inverse of the diameter of the observable universe. Could someone explain the current thinking around how energy quanta relate to the size of the universe, or rather why wavelengths larger than the universe are impossible? If the latter were true, I'd expect that an energy quantum corresponding to 0.99 * universe would be equally impossible as 1.01 * universe, and that only integer multiples of the corresponding frequency would be allowed (i.e. a harmonic series across the universe).
- TheOtherHobbes 11y agoThe corollary is that you'd be able to measure the size of the universe by observing quantisation effects. This seems unlikely, because - unless I've missed something obvious - you'd have to be able to set up a wave with a phase velocity > c.
- gcb0 11y agoyeah, i quit reading after the condescending intro ended with "In other words, inertia must quantized at small accelerations."