The Science

What is the Casimir Effect?

The Casimir Effect is a term in Quantum Physics. It is a type of Exotic Matter and Zero Point Engery. Dutch physicists Hendrik B. G. Casimir and Dirk Polder first theorised the existence of the Casimir Effect 1948. On a quantum scale the Casimir Effect is so strong that it becomes the dominant force between uncharged conductors. It is theorised that the Casimir Effect holds the quantum particles of an atom together; it is literally the binding force of the universe.

Two metal plates are in a vacuum (absence of any kind of atmosphere), they are placed a few micrometers apart, without any attached electromagnetic field (energy source). In a classical physics (what you learnt at school) the lack of an external field also means that there is no field between the plates, and no force would be measured between them.

When this field (gap between the plates) is studied at the quantum level, it is seen that the plates do affect the field and generate unseen (and previously undetected) force —either an attraction or repulsion depending on the specific arrangement of the two plates. This is the Casimir force, it can be explained simply through the narrative of unrequited love, where two people are in love and when they are close great things can happen but they can never be together or apart.

Paradox dominates a narrative in which the compulsion to love is a compulsion to die, and death is the price for an absolute.
The Oxford Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, 2000 pp3, Levenson J. L.

Exotic Matter

Materials made of exotic matter possess qualities like negative mass or would be repelled rather than attracted by gravity. It’s used as part of scientific theories, such as in the construction of wormholes. The closest known real representative of exotic matter is a region of pseudo-negative pressure density produced by the Casimir effect.

Wormholes

A wormhole is a tunnel through space and time. Space-time is usually viewed as a flat surface that can be ‘folded’ over, to allow a tunnel/wormhole to connect two distant points. If the wormhole is traversable, then matter can ‘travel’ from one mouth to the other by passing through the throat.

Exotic matter is needed in Quantum theory to stabilize a wormhole through space and time. The Casimir effect can be used to produce a local mass-negative region of space-time and it is suggested that negative effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel.

The throat of the wormhole would have to be coated in exotic matter produced by the Casimir effect to stabilise the sides and widen the opening.

Time Travel

A wormhole could allow time travel, as once you are travelling faster than light you are in fact time travelling.

This could be accomplished by accelerating one end of the wormhole to a high speed compared to the other, and then sometime later bringing it back. This means that anything which entered the accelerated wormhole mouth would exit the stationary one at a point in time prior to its entry.

You would still need something to protect you as you travelled through the wormhole. Theory suggests that it is impossible to travel before the time of the first invention of a time machine, as you would need a receiver to connect to.

Paradox

So what would happen if you went back in time and killed your Grandfather? Would you stop existing? The answer is both yes and no, but at the same time! Two timelines would diverge and therefore your own would stay the same, but at the same time there is no way you would know if you were experiencing a Paradox.

AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. The existence of an artificial intelligence that rivals human intelligence raises difficult ethical issues and the potential power of the technology inspires both hopes and fears. Some AI may be built into androids and become artificial humans; most will simply be part of machines and computers.