I was informed today, albeit basically, of a (new?) theoretical method of time travel. The theory involves assuming that if you can bend light to form a complete circle it would create a high level of energy and supposedly warp time?

Sounds very bogus to me, but if anyone knows of this theory or a website on it that can explain it a little bit more scientifically I'd apreciate it.

EDIT Oh god damnit, just realised I posted this in the wrong place. Sorry ><

Bend light to form a circle? what does that mean? like defraction in 360 angle back to the source? how does that help?

will help if you quote the source of this information.

No, I'm looking FOR a source of this information. I've heard about it from a few people.

Basically by managing to refract light and cause it to bend to form a perfect circle it should theoretically continuosly travel in that circular pattern, the combined energy of which would cause some sort of time warp. I'm guessing this would require a constant ray of light though... it's all pretty abstract theory stuff.

If anyone's heard of it, I'd be interested to hear a much better explanation of the theory than I've heard

hmmmmmmmmm VERY POSSIBLE.

I am almost thirteen and, if I took a test, would pass high school physics. So I know, IF the energy were to be TRAPPED like that for over a SECOND. It would cause a mass energy to be unleashed! Enough energy, possibly, to open a wormhole!!!! If this wormhole was opened, it would send you to a place based on four coordinates, the fourth being used almost too litterally.

First Number=1ST DIMENSION. LATITUDE
Second Number=2ND DIMENSION. LONGITUDE
Third Number=3RD DIMENSION, HIGHT
Fourth Number= 4TH DIMENSION, TIME

Imaging saying,
"Meet me at the building on the corner of 45th Street, on the third floor lobby, at 12:00.

The wormhole would send you to a random place in the universe. ANYWHERE. The chances of landing on earth are practically zero. THERE ARE INFINITE NUMBERS TO DESIGNTE YOUR DESTINATION AND ONLY ONE EARTH!

BTW: This should be in Mysteries of time space and universe. Not in psychic phenomena becuase it isnt metaphysical it is theoretical.

Yeah, I know I posted in the wrong place - already pointed that out

The thing is, for that to be true you'd need a continuously light source that never runs out or I doubt you could create a high enough amount of energy... which is pretty much impossible.

I never thought about the theory of a light that went in a 360 degree circle. Pretty much impossible. The only thing I can think for that, and that is a superimposed gravitational field through a special glass room made of a highly reflective material. The light would be bent by gravity in different ways through the element in which the reflective material is composed of. (Probably some element that isn't normally used in mirrors. There would need to be a TON of research to find out what PRECISE angle the mirrors would have to be at... Like say 67.45734578349875087 Degrees. It would have to be that precise. If we succeeded, we would create a place where light moved perpeturally, until its source(sun or lights) was taken away. the energy that would be created there would be massive.Definitely enough to generate a rip in space time, allowing you to theoretically travel anywhere or anywhen you wanted to go in the universe, but I shouldn't say that, the end place of a wormhole is generated at random from a series of infentisimal numbers, you would be randomly placed.

I've heard of this before. The example given was with a high-powered laser, not just any light.

Actually waves radiate in a "circle" away from the source. Light is a wave, just like the waves in water are, and I'm sure you've made ripples in water at one time or another in your life.

Bending light 360 degrees, as far as I know, would be near impossible unless reflection was allowed. You could make a circular bagel shaped object that was hollowed out for light to pass through it from a source that also reflected light once the light bounced back at it, although this would make a /\/\/\ pattern rather than a O

High power lasers are hardly different from normal light waves other than that they are amplified/intensified.

"Any of several devices that emit highly amplified and coherent radiation of one or more discrete frequencies" - Dictionary.com

Another possibility to make circular light is somehow get light to bounce off of or follow a magnetic field.

A third possibility could be to have two opposite "magnet" peices that would force light to be altered in direction. One would act like a black hole, sucking in the light, and one would be the opposite, repelling it [Such as negative/positive matter]. If both forces were equal, the reaction should be that light would be bent to the desired path. The light source would be the hard part.

Another option would be to use a variety of different matters [solid, gas, liquid] to achieve some strange result with refraction, but I'm not sure how this would be done.

One way to create an extremely high amount of energy and light is fusion, producing energy and light the same way our sun does. Since our sun, and other stars, make an unimaginable amount of light and energy, I'm sure it would be enough.


Correct, because if the universe is infinite than there are an infinite number of destinations to travel to.

Our final option is to take a Klingon Bird of Prey and circle the sun like in Star Trek.

Raven are you a physicist?
Becuase I have always wanted to be a theoretical Physicist just like my idol, Michio Kaku

Nope, just a science junkie that reads a lot.

If that theory is true, then we could not use mirrors because under that much energy the heat would become too intense and melt the mirrors.. maybe.

OMG how much would it suck if you landed in the ocean?!? ive seen open water and that has to suck.

Err... you'd be lucky to land in the ocean. You'd most likely end up elsewhere in the universe, highly possibly in the middle of space with no oxygen...

1. The energy of light is directly expressed through wavelength
2. The energy of light has nothing to do with bending it
3. Spacetime curvature does
4. Strong enough gravity field could warp the light in a circular (spiral) pattern
5. The event horizon of black holes does exactly just that, but that's theoretical
6. Perfect circle, ie. infinite orbit, is impossible for light because of entropy
7. With lasers and mirrors you can't do anything. With each reflection off a reflective surface, light looses intensity (not energy, intensity, ie. photons per square inch).
8. Time travel IS possible, but in one direction only, via temporal dilatation, and simple Lorentz transformations.
9. Any other time travel is purely hypothetical and impossible to solve mathematically.
10. If wormholes existed, where do you dial your coordinates?

Where do you get your information from and would you mind linking me?


What makes you think we'd have any control over wormholes?

Pick up any high school book on physics. Lorentz transformations clearly show the time dilatation for relativistic speeds.



Someone suggested about supplying coordinates to a wormhole, so the logical question is: where do you dial in the coordinates?

it seems plausible

I don't do physics nor do I have any psyics books readily available, though my friend who is doing year13 physics (12th grade) says she's never heard of it. But I have Almighty Google at hand so no troubles, really. .



Ah heh, sorry. That is indeed a very good question.

Links?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilatation

and a math heavy Lorentz example:

http://users.net.yu/~mrp/chapter18.html

The time dilatation is the most famous "side effect" of traveling at relativistic speeds. The famous effect of leaving the Earth and coming back finding everyone aged significantly more than you did.

The practical problem, though, is obtaining relativistic speeds.

The links are much appreciated Pseudomorph, thanks .