Starship Horizons: Virtual Higgs Generators

Home

Virtual Higgs Boson Generation

In the Standard Model of Physics the fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak) are carried by a boson and in the case of gravity that boson is the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is what gives other particles their mass.

Starting with the experiments done at the Large Hadron Collider is the early 21st century mankind endeavored to learn more about the Higgs boson. Most of the early efforts required massive amounts of energy but still boiled down to simply smashing to rocks together to see what was inside. This was until a pair of inventor by the names of Dr Ray Jacobs (UK) and Dr Niharia Ptel (India) created a way to generate a virtual Higgs boson in a way that was leaps and bounds more efficient. They worked on the L4 habitat of the Earth Moon system. Their original apparatus was only able to create a scant number of Higgs boson for nanosecond intervals but it was enough to be detected by the increase in mass of a single electron in rhythmic pulses.

After a quarter century of further development the size of the apparatus was reduced and number of Higgs boson per time increased to the point where a nearly continuous virtual mass equal to that of the apparatus could be generated. These virtual Higgs could only be generated at microscopic distances away from the apparatus emitter. In a gravitational environment all this really gets you is a heavier apparatus. In space on the other hand (since the virtual Higgs boson are in no other way connected to the apparatus) the apparatus only experiences the gravitational attraction of the Higgs boson and falls towards the virtual mass. Then virtual Higgs generating apparatus generates a new round of Higgs boson are the same distance away from the emitter, thus it is never able to catch up to the virtual mass.

An array of virtual Higgs generators were first used as a reactionless drive 2105. In 2106 first Virtual Higgs Generator drive was used on a privately funded probe to explore the asteroid belt. These first arrays were such that it was natural to replace the solar sails of already existing intersolar craft. Voyages that took 2 years could now be completed in 4 months.

These early vessels were limited by two fundamental limitations of those early Virtual Higgs Generators (VHGs). Both have been alluded to already. The first is the distance the virtual particles could be generated from the surface and the other is the mean density of particles that could be generated. This allowed only for a single layer of generators that could be arrayed in sheets. Very akin to sails on sea going vessels and the solar sails what were then in use, but instead of catching the wind the Virtual Higgs Generators (VHGs) fall in the direction that they emit. This era of Virtual Higgs Generators has been classified as has Generation One Designs (or VHG Sail Configuration).

The next advancement in the Virtual Higgs Generators (VHGs) comes with the ability to create larger Higgs densities. The amount of virtual mass that can be created by a single generator is increased by several orders of magnitude. This allows sails to be compacted into tighter formation. The most common result is a ring design. This constitutes Generation Two of Design (or VHG Ring Configuration).

Generation Three Design is marked by the ability of VHGs to emit Higgs at greater distances away from the emitter. This era sees consistent increase in the distance that Higgs can be emitted. The down side of this generation is that the amount of power to generate a Higgs is geometrically proportional to the distance it is generated away from the emitter. This is balanced somewhat by how efficient the VHG had become. It was still reasonable to generate a sizable Higgs densities a hundred meters or more. This is the first generation of design to have realistic deflector shields. Designs break from the now traditional ring designs to conforming panels spread across the length and breath of the hull (VHG Plate Configuration).

Only recently has mankind advanced into the Forth Generation of Design. The breakthrough that allowed of this was the reduction of the energy cost for generating Higgs at a distance. It no longer cost increasing amounts pf energy to generate Higgs a nanometer away from the emmiter than it does to generate it up to hundreds of meters away. Designs of the current era are marked by VHGs been centralized in nacelles. Greatly easing the burden of maintain and supplying power to them. It is often wondered by lay persons why VHGs are not also used as weapons. The simple answer is energy efficiency. While it is physically possible to tear a fighter apart with a VHG it just cheaper to shot it with a laser at a fraction of the energy cost. There is also still a distance limitation on the VHG. The greater the distance the Greater the spread of Higgs. Out side of kilometer the density of Higgs is very hard to maintained. Thus the strength of VHG diminishes passed that point until its not any greater that background noise. Also note the problem with targeting anything that is more that a couple of light seconds away from the firer (Thus why fighters and missiles are still in use).

Encyclopedia Galactica entry: Virtual Higgs Generator - Quantum Field theory posited the existance of virtual particals that are transient and in nature do not appear to have mass. Once mankind started creating colonies away from Earths gravitation field was it discovered that the mass carrying Higgs partical could be artifically created. The practical outcome of this was the ability to create a virtual mass field at a relatively short distance. The gravity gradient that this induces draws surrounding matter towards it. In the case of free space this ends up causing the virtual higgs generator to move towards the virtual mass. Mankind now had a reactionless thruster which could move things very close to the speed of light.