Monday, August 2, 2010

A new idea on Dark Matter/Dark Energy

Well, hopefully new. I'm avoiding googling up keywords so that I can not even accidentally modify my concept with some one else's ideas. I'll do some search engine work after I post this, and see what I get, and will comment any findings.

To be clear, I came up with this idea today, 02 August 2010, while visualizing certain physics concepts in a non-traditional manner. Namely, the image of space-time as a 2-dimensional fabric, with mass as a third dimensional force that bends and warps it towards the mass. I will explain my imaging and thought process step by step, and state my final idea at the end.

The 2D model has a couple of flaws. 1) Obviously, space alone is three dimensional, and time is a fourth, so we are severely compressing dimensions in the model. 2) It implies an external 'down' direction. So I created a new model in my head. I started with a 3D grid in a cube, something like a a fictional holographic projection. When I place a mass-model (a blank, dark grey sphere) in this cube, the grid lines simply bend towards the object from all directions, bending more sharply the closer they are to the object and the more massive the object. This is a slightly more accurate representation of the space-time distortion caused by mass.

Now, do to a conversation I had earlier in the day, I imagined what effects hypothetical 'negative mass' matter would have, should it actually exist. Zero mass is all flat lines, and positive mass bends ST (Space-Time) towards itself, so negative mass might bend space away from itself.

This would cause the ST grid lines to distort away from the mass object. Two given points in the space-time fabric would move apart from each other. Which is a solid description of Inflation. Which is currently hypothesized to be caused by dark energy.

My idea replaces Dark Energy (and possibly Dark Matter, will go into details in a moment) with the existence of Negative Matter, whose existence, while not directly predicted, is very certainly allowed by relativity, and is an actual requirement for certain mathematical equations describing how wormholes might form or other forms of FTL and/or time travel. It has the same conceptual effect as Dark Energy, and fits with known mathematical physics models. This gives it an appeal of simplicity. However, some one with a heavier math background is going to have to do the number crunching to see if it fits.

How this might also replace Dark Matter: If the galaxies are being pushed apart by space-time around them being expanded by the existence of NM(Negative Matter) in large quantities, then that same NM would also be creating 'hills' around the 'valleys' of the galaxies, making a much steeper climb for any star that might otherwise be able to escape the galaxy's gravity. Thus you no longer need the gravitational effect of Dark Matter. Instead of DM(Dark Matter) holding the galaxies together, NM pushes the galaxies together. Part of the test of this idea would be to see if this can properly account for with regards to the already measured light distortions that have already been measured as part of the search for proof of DM.

This part I believe has already been speculated upon before, but if NM actually exists, it would have a certain amount of 'anti-gravity' effect. Mind you, a pound of NM would (probably) not fly off the earth's surface (at least, not very far) if left unattended, but it would flatten out ST around it a little, making everything else weigh a little bit less in the process. Much math would have to be done to be certain of the probably effects.

The concept is elegant and simple in many ways. And NM would be dark because light would automatically be bent away from it, instead of towards it. It would tend to spread out thinly, pushing away from itself as well as positive matter. And over all, be as hard to detect directly as both DM and DE.

Now to go see if I can poke any holes in this with some research.

Monday, June 21, 2010

MidAtlantic Broaband

I am blogging today after my long absence (do mostly to being away from home), in order to complain about a company that is making my business (well, military) trip one step less pleasant.

I am staying at the Sheppard Inn on Sheppard AFB. They use MidAtlantic Broadband (http://www.midatlanticbb.com/ ) as their internet provider, by placing individual (and already near-dial-up slow) DSL routers in each room.

Since I arrived on May 25th, I have been able to use my PS3 as my (admittedly limited in capability) internet machine. Last night this ceased to be the case. After calling the front desk, I was given MidAtlantic's service number (1-866-435-7548), and upon calling them, I was informed that gaming platforms are not supported, do to the bandwidth that gaming on them supposedly takes up. Let me count the serious flaws in this logic...

1) Most glaringly, many online gamers use PCs for their gaming (in addition to 1st person shooters, we have WoW, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy 11/14, and the many, many 'free to play' MMO games)

2) PCs draw additional bandwidth, in the form of being able to download lots of large files for a variety of purposes. For many people, if not most, the PC represents the greater use of bandwidth.

3) One can use PS3s and XBoxes as internet machines, for surfing the web.

4) If this was such a critical, and longstanding issue, how was I able to blindly use the PS3 for the past 3+ weeks?

MidAtlantic Broadband has failed in its customer service, and badly, both by providing such poor, limited service in the first place, and then further limiting it by denying service based on the platform you use.

And I believe that this has been deemed illegal, falling under the same regulations that denied phone companies the ability to deny their customers service if they did not use that phone company's phones.

And I am most definitely MidAtlantic Broadband's customer, however unwillingly, as my payment of my room also pays for my internet connection, or in this case, lack there of.