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Art Exercise: Quintessence

Let it be known that this is not a discussion per say though if you contact me privately I would be happy to collaborate with you. This is a personal exercise to both test my ability to hammer out pseudo-scientific rhetoric used in both common and uncommon fictional works and/or commonly accepted role-play across every venue I've been exposed to over the past thirty years online and offline.

This focusing and linking of these ideas will then be supported with true scientific theory. I've just recently become a member of Star Army. I'm not here to upset any balance. This is not an attempt to impose any structure on pre-existing concepts. This is simply an exercise and a testing of my own knowledge or ability to do research. It is in this section of the forum because I consider this type of thinking an art form and I find it fascinating.

This exercise will focus primarily on Aether.
 
What is do we know about aether?

The word is not unique to Star Army. I've seen it used before. In most fiction the Aether is a parallel or perpendicular plane residing in the same universe either overlaid with space-time and observable only through special circumstance or in a location unreachable by normal movement. In this example the Aether commonly exists within the universe of the observer. In this respect it commonly a place, a location that has physical properties that may be different than what we can observe in our universe.

The Aether is a universe of effectively limitless energy, discovered by the Yamatai Star Empire in YE 20. Since then, aether has become the cornerstone of the SARPiverse. As technology grew, aether-powered generators became the primary power source of faster-than-light starships of all major nations, and then in increasingly smaller applications. - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether

From this source information we know that in the SARPiverse the aether is thought to be a universe of effectively limitless energy. We are told via the same source that aether-powered generators produce the power need for many faster-than-light star-ships and for some smaller applications. In this respect aether is implied to be both a place and a form of exotic energy/matter from that same place.

A generator is a dynamo or similar machine for converting mechanical energy into electricity. In this respect a generator can take something like potential/checmical energy of something like coal or gasoline, or the kinetic energy of the wind and turn it into electricity that we can readily use for other purposes but we have sources that seem to contradict each-other.

Think of aether devices as faucets that pierce the dimensional branes and deliver energy on tap. You can get as much energy as you ask for, up until the point your device can't take anymore. The smallest aether generators are about the size of a lunchbox. The equipment used determines the power and efficiency that a device can harness that power. - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether

An Aether Generator is an energy-providing device powered by Aether. It is the primary power source employed by the Star Army of Yamatai.

“Hanako nodded, and went over to inspect the main aether generator. It was a two-story structure taking up the middle of the engine room, that resembled two tall, finely machined metal flowers facing one another. Each “petal” was a heavily armored panel that connected to the one beside it by means of a central Zesuaium frame. Three of the panels had been blown loose by the massive blast that anti-matter had caused during the battle. Hanako crawled up a warped ladder and took a look at the inside of the generator, where the dimensional energy was harnessed. Things weren't bad inside, considering the circumstances. It would probably run; it just needed the exterior panels replaced, along with its electronic control interface.” - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether_generator


Aether is basically energy and/or an energized matter/anti-matter plasma that starts reacting as shortly after it's pulled out of the aether. Aether energy (e.g. white beam) moves at light speed, and aether plasma moves however fast you can push it with your coil gun, although if you are producing enough aether plasma, you won't have to push because it'll push you (e.g. aether plasma engines).

I always figured aether energy consists of a wide mix of energy types (basically a full EM spectrum) rather than any particular type (e.g. gamma rays). Scalar waves travel at light speed and cannot be blocked by anything that doesn't block the force of gravity. - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether and https://stararmy.com/roleplay-forum/index.php?threads/speed-of-aether.53810/#post-337004


Aether is also defined in some fiction as the fifth classical element after earth, fire, water, and air or the raw material of reality. What flows through the patterns of reality. In some fictional works it is a primal force that can't truly be divided, measured, or contained.

Aether energy is defined for SARPiverse in the third source.

What is aether then?

It is defined as an energized matter/anti-matter plasma that starts reacting once it is pulled from the aether. Aether then must be both a type of energy/matter and also a location. This is because normally matter and anti-matter react violently, destroying both the matter and anti-matter and releasing all the energy inherent in that matter and anti-matter. Being a energized plasma would not stop this processes. This means that to exist in this fashion aether is not like every other form of energy or/and it is from a place with different natural laws.

From this point on we will call this aether energy quintessence instead. Ignore the physics definition of quintessence. The words are interchangeable in most fiction. This is so we can differentiate the place and the energy and also so we do not have to put aether in a matter or energy category. In reality matter and energy are interchangeable. With the know-how and technology you could theoretically do anything with matter that you could do with energy and visa versa. This is not fiction. It is an underlying principle of our universe.

We now know aether devices somehow pull quintessence from the aether. That how is unimportant just yet. We know that quintessence starts to react the moment that it is pulled into our universe. We have three options then. Three competing hypotheses:
  1. Quintessence is a type of exotic matter.
  2. The aether does not have the same natural laws that we experience in our observable universe. Different fundamental properties in the aether.
  3. Both of these things are true.
1. In physics, exotic matter is matter that somehow deviates from normal matter and has "exotic" properties. A more broad definition of exotic matter is any kind of non-baryonic matter—that is not made of baryons, the subatomic particles, such as protons and neutrons, of which ordinary matter is composed.

Exotic matter could have properties of both matter and anti-matter in equal parts but for some reason cause no anti-matter reaction.

2. Fundamental laws include everything about how our observable universe operate. Chemistry, physics, matter, energy, space, and time. Everything we can observe and everything we observe the effect of but not directly observe such as dark energy and dark matter.

3. It could be a combination of both.
 
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We are testing three competing hypotheses and these have to do with fictional places (Aether) and/or fictional matter/energy (Quintessence). There is no real way to test these theories but...

Occam's razor (also Ockham's razor; Latin: lex parsimoniae "law of parsimony") is a problem-solving principle attributed to William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), who was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. His principle states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.

In science, Occam's razor is used as a heuristic guide in the development of theoretical models, rather than as a rigorous arbiter between candidate models.[1][2] In the scientific method, Occam's razor is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic or a scientific result; the preference for simplicity in the scientific method is based on the falsifiability criterion. For each accepted explanation of a phenomenon, there may be an extremely large, perhaps even incomprehensible, number of possible and more complex alternatives, because one can always burden failing explanations with ad hoc hypotheses to prevent them from being falsified; therefore, simpler theories are preferable to more complex ones because they are more testable. -source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor


Simply, we can not falsify any one of these hypotheses. Nothing in science can disprove any of these choices. That is, we can't prove anyone false with real physics and science and without being irrefutable the simplest defining characteristics of the aether and quintessence would be the most ideal. We have eliminated one of our choices. What remains is the following:
  1. Quintessence is a type of exotic matter.
  2. The aether does not have the same natural laws that we experience in our observable universe. Different fundamental properties in the aether.
 
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How can quintessence be a type of exotic matter and something so clearly defined then? It is clearly stated in the source material that:

Aether is basically energy and/or an energized matter/anti-matter plasma that starts reacting as shortly after it's pulled out of the aether. Aether energy (e.g. white beam) moves at light speed, and aether plasma moves however fast you can push it with your coil gun, although if you are producing enough aether plasma, you won't have to push because it'll push you (e.g. aether plasma engines).

I always figured aether energy consists of a wide mix of energy types (basically a full EM spectrum) rather than any particular type (e.g. gamma rays). Scalar waves travel at light speed and cannot be blocked by anything that doesn't block the force of gravity. - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether and https://stararmy.com/roleplay-forum/index.php?threads/speed-of-aether.53810/#post-337004


This conforms to normal matter and anti-matter. An anti-matter/matter plasma, even energetic or energized in some way would react with itself within our observable universe. Electromagnetic energy is the same as radiation or light. Such a reaction would release differing wavelengths across the EM spectrum but most of it would be at the gamma wavelength. This includes microwave, terahertz (or sub-millimeter) radiation, infrared, the visible region that is perceived as light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. For now we will avoid scalar waves.

The reaction between matter and its corresponding anti-matter particles is 100% efficient, converting all of the mass into energy. If you want to find the amount of energy produced in any such reaction, just multiply the total mass (particles plus their anti-particles) in kilograms by the speed of light squared (9 x 1016) and you will get the result in joules.

Because this reaction is 100% efficient, cosmologists believe that were it not for an asymmetry that favors matter over antimatter, the Big Bang may have annihilated ALL matter and produced a Universe filled with only energy. - source: Paul Walorski, B.A. Physics, Part-time Physics Instructor


That being said there is no difference between an anti-matter/matter reaction and what is going on here with quintessence as it is brought into our universe. That and the fact that it is energized matter/anti-matter plasma that starts reacting as shortly after it's pulled out of the aether indicates that it is not a type of exotic matter. It's density or energy density is not yet being discussed.

With a bomb, one opens a bigger channel than a device could possibly handle, causing a brief but devastating dump of energy into regular space-time. Aether grenades exist, but are fairly rare. Much more common are starship-fired aether torpedoes, such as the AS-7 or the Ke-Z1. - source: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=technology:aether

This is exactly what would happen if you introduced quintessence into the universe. We are down to only one hypotheses then:
  1. The aether does not have the same natural laws that we experience in our observable universe. Different fundamental properties in the aether.
 
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Let's explore this. We know a number of things about this universe.

We know it has a large energy density, perhaps effectively limitless energy density though it would be improbable that you could regulate that. You would blow up even with the most precise equipment. Surely though the energy density is very high. If this was not true it would not be efficient to use this technology as an energy source. This is something that can't happen in our real life observable universe. There is a limit to how much energy you can put into a unit of space. It could also be effectively limitless in size but this is not necessary.

In this universe there is an equal amount anti-matter and matter. If this was not true then the technology would still need some kind of fuel, either matter or anti-matter. We also know that the anti-matter and matter in quintessence and throughout the aether is consistent and evenly mixed with little or no imperfections.

We know that quintessence reacts once it is brought into our universe and does not react in the aether. If it did react within the aether the potential energy of quintessence would be expended within the aether and there would be no trying to harvesting it as an energy source.
 
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How does the aether work?

For this to work we need a location (Universe) in which, somehow antimatter and matter are not permitted to react with each other either through some different cosmology, dimensional structure, or through a change in the fundamental forces.

Examples of Sources:
Eleven Dimensions, +
Fundamental Forces
 
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