Civilizations could use gravitational lenses to transmit power from star to star

In 1916, famed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein put the final touches on general relativity, a geometric theory of how gravity alters the curvature of spacetime. Revolutionary theory is the basis for models of how the universe formed and evolved. One of the many things GR predicted was something known as gravitational lensing, where objects with huge gravitational fields distort and magnify light coming from more distant objects. Astronomers used lenses to perform deep-field observations, allowing them to see deeper into the universe.

In recent years, scientists like Claudio Maccone and Slava Turishev have discovered that using the sun as a solar gravitational lens (SGL) could have enormous applications in astronomy and exploration of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). I’ve been researching this. Two notable examples include studying exoplanets in great detail and building interstellar communication networks (the “galactic internet”). In a recent paper, Turishev proposes how advanced civilizations could use his SGL to transmit power from star to star. This could have important implications in the search for techno signatures.

of preprint Turishev’s paper “Gravitational Lensing for Interstellar Power Transmission” was recently published. arXiv It is currently under review for publication. Physical Review D. Slava G. Turishev is a research scientist in the Space Structure Research Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This group is working on a wide range of research topics related to the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day. These include the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the role of dark matter and dark energy in the formation of large-scale cosmic structures, and the accelerating expansion of the cosmic universe (respectively).

In a previous paper, Turyshev and his colleague, Senior Researcher Viktor Toth (Carleton University), extensively investigated the physics of gravitational lensing. They also investigated how placing spacecraft in the SGL’s focal region could enable cutting-edge astronomy. This includes how SGLs amplify light from distant, faint objects (such as exoplanets) to a resolution comparable to observations from high orbit. In another paper, SETI astronomer and mathematician Claudio Maccone showed how SGLs can facilitate communication between stars.

In this latest paper, Turishev looked at how to use a star’s gravitational focus to concentrate energy and send beams to other star systems. As he showed in his paper, using the same equipment (built to scale) used for interplanetary communications, a pair of stellar gravitational lenses could facilitate energy transfer across interstellar distances. . This configuration benefits from optical amplification by both lenses and can significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the transmitted signal. However, as Turishev told his Universe Today in his email, a comprehensive analysis of these scenarios has not yet been done.

“This is a topic I have avoided for a long time because there were no analytical tools developed to study power transmission. Many related and important topics are now well understood, which led to this research. I considered the feasibility of interstellar power transfer and was able to show that it is indeed possible to achieve a suitable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and that SGLs can be used for that purpose. I showed you.”

In this study, Turishev used analytical tools from his previous work on SGLs to consider how light is amplified in multi-lens systems. These same methods were then applied to his three free-space laser power transmission scenarios involving lensing with a single or double lens. In all cases, a point source transmitter is placed in the focal region of the lens and amplifies the power received by the receiver. The results show that power beams follow the same principles as optical amplification and can be achieved using similar infrastructure.

Space-based solar power generation is considered one of the most effective means of providing clean renewable energy to the planet. The method consists of a satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO) collecting solar energy 24 hours a day and transmitting it to a receiving station on Earth using a microwave laser. In this regard, using SGL to beam power from system to system could extend space-based solar power into interstellar space, potentially facilitating everything from interstellar exploration to interstellar habitation. be. As Turyshev demonstrated, the mathematics is sound, but there is still much work to be done.

“We demonstrate the feasibility and provide tools that can be used to deal with all these nuances. Also, since we already have pretty good SNR, we can’t include these additional modeling terms. This is the first paper to address this.” All topics are addressed in a non-speculative manner, focusing only on the physics involved, but Many more topics need to be addressed, such as the misalignment of the machine, lens 1, lens 2, receiver, and the presence of a nonvanishing quadrupole moment that characterizes the internal structure of the lens. All you need to do now is deal with each of them. ”