3 ms·
Conservation laws aren't fundamental, but are implications of local differentiable physical symmetries (this is the primary result of Noether's (first) theorem)
by raattgift 11y ago
Conservation laws aren't fundamental, but are implications of local differentiable physical symmetries (this is the primary result of Noether's (first) theorem).
The local symmetries in question are represented by the Poincare Group, which is the isometry group of Minkowski spacetime, which in turn is the unremovable background of Special Relativity. (The Lorentz Group is a subgroup of the Poincare Group).
This is another way of saying that in a 3+1 flat spacetime, well-designed local probes of fundamental physics will not depend on time translation (i.e., experimenting today vs experimenting tomorrow), on spatial translation (e.g., the same experimental results here vs there), on spatial orientation (i.e., rotation about the 3 spacelike axes; so you get the same result when you turn the system under test 90 degrees to the left), or under Lorentz boosts, which are basically instantaneous changes in constant uniform motion along any of the axes. Additionally, small-scale (small compared to several times the size and mass-energy of the whole solar system) natural phenomena are essentially always "well-designed local probes of fundamental physics".
Conservation of linear momentum arises from invariance under spacelike translation; a violation of that conservation makes it very difficult to maintain spatial translation symmetry, and in particular flies in the face of the many direct tests of physical systems at different places on our planet and in our solar system, for example. So that's a big deal that needs explaining, and in particular the explanation should preserve the known and reproducible invariance under those translations as well as allowing the EmDrive's alleged violation.
The perpetual motion machine argument is slightly different because it is rooted in a claim about how the EmDrive behaves when in non-constant motion; in the current version of the theory paper "V 9.4" at equations 14-16, there is an implied violation of the Einstein Equivalence Principle. The equation is a bit odd, and you easily can read it to say that there is a power<>thrust relationship that varies with acceleration, and raise the Einstein elevator objection: if you put the EmDrive into an upwards-accelerating box, or leave it on the ground, do you still take this power<>thrust relationship seriously? If so, you get "free power" (although that's a bit subtle). If not, then you have to explain a violation of the Equivalence Principle, which is also something that has also been very well tested and has so far applied without fail.
You could think of it with a somewhat concrete example: to hover at some fixed height above the Earth's surface, the EmDrive would have to emit thrust similar to the amount of work you would do to hold it at that height with your hands; since you are near the surface, that should be about "g" expressed as N/kg (and indeed Eq 16 tells you how much electrical power you will require for the EmDrive). So far so good. But (eq 16) can be read to say that when you place the EmDrive on the ground, it will produce electrical power proportional to to "g".
I think this is pretty clearly just a mistake rather than a serious claim. Unfortunately eq 16 features prominently in the FAQ and all the "marketing" material about the EmDrive. (Even more unfortunately it's hard to see how to fix the equation without making the drive obviously inoperable).
- alkonaut 11y agoThanks. For the supposed violations - aren't we still then only discussing the device working within known physics? There is no violation if the device were to slowly lose mass due to some unknown process (making it a form of Ion thruster), or if it accelerates some yet unknown weakly interacting massive particle in the opposite direction of the thrust, or if it somehow only conserves invariants for a "larger" system, potentially the entire universe? Given an exotic enough explanation (negative energies/faster than light particles/spacetime warping/..) it feels like you can cheat your way around almost any invariant? Occam is left weeping in a corner of course.
- raattgift 11y agoSure, if it's not actually reactionless, most objections fall away. The problem with reaching for exotic particles or the like is that we don't see them in searches which involve tens of orders of magnitude more power, and we certainly don't see them in, for example, electric toasters or radar sets. So what would need explaining is what's peculiar about the EmDrive with respect to (extremely) unusual particle interactions, and there is [a] nothing obvious and [b] nothing at all in the "theory" paper. Likewise, reaching for non-local physics answers raises similar questions (why is EmDrive doing non-local whatever but my kettle isn't; or alternatively, why is EmDrive coupling with whatever much much much more strongly than my conventional oven is). I have another pair of things that you can add to the list: [a] EmDrive somehow violates causality in a way that other similar arrangements of mass-energy-momentum does not and [b] EmDrive somehow escapes logic in a way that other similar systems under study does not. These are neither more far-fetched nor more unpalatable, compared to abandoning local physics (causality and logic preserved, but hidden non local variables proliferate) or abandoning the Standard Model as an accurate low-energy theory of matter (causality, logic and locality preserved, but now what happens in the molecules and atoms of cars, computer chips, and light bulbs? we no longer can be quite so sure!). There is A LOT of known physics and almost exactly zero examples of violations of the known invariants at low particle energies. You are re-testing relevant parts of all that in reading this comment.