For the strong gravitational field of a circulating cylinder of light, I have found new exact solutions of the Einstein field equations for the exterior and interior gravitational fields of the light cylinder. The exterior gravitational field is shown to contain closed timelike lines.
The presence of closed timelike lines indicates the possibility of time travel into the past. This creates the foundation for a time machine based on a circulating cylinder of light. (Ronald Mallett, "The gravitational field of a circulating light beam", Foundations of Physics 33, 1307 (2003))
For those that are a little more mathematically inclinedThe Gravitational Field of a Circulating Light Beam
Ronald L. Mallett (PDF link)
And now there's apparently a search for funding by the University of Connecticut Foundation. Check out the Space-Time Twisting by Light (STL) page.
But before anyone starts packing their bags, there are questions and debates about parts of the work. What I find interesting though, is that it's about parts of the work and not the work as a whole. This makes me think that Dr. Mallett may be on to something and it might only be a matter of time (no pun intended).
2 comments:
Interesting.
Any talk of travel into the past makes me consider the old question of what historical event I'd change if I could change only one.
In my case it'd be saving Julius Caesar, not because he was such a great guy, but because I think things would've been much different had Caesar's relationship with Cleopatra developed further. I suspect their kingdoms might've unified, which would've led to a much less patriarchal western world than the one we've got.
Of course there's the argument that if past-time-travel machines are to be invented and commonly used in our future, then they'd already have been popping up all over the place throughout human history, but it's still fun to speculate.
True and the idea that a machine could only travel back to when one was invented.
But then there's the Copenhagen interpretation. Something to the fact that all possibilities do exist. Infinity can't be infinite if it's finite. And I suspect that if we can glance sideways at the infinite, then it exists.
In some existence, Cesar and Cleo are still hanging out.
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