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Kybernetes Moros
Amarr True Slave Foundations
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Posted - 2011.06.07 23:06:00 -
[1]
Not so long ago, I was trying to figure out how the various lasers in-game would work from an in-universe perspective. Given the apparent expertise the Amarr have with antimatter (antimatter reactors in their ships, and so on), I ended up figuring that they'd be pumped by dipositronium annihilation at some level: either directly, or that annihilation pumping multiple smaller, tunable lasers tuned to the gain medium's wavelength -- the gain medium being the crystal loaded.
More recently, it came up in a couple of discussions that the term 'laser' in EVE seems to refer to a number of things; we have the lasers proper (although masers being tunable to non-microwave frequencies is odd), and then we have particle beams. Thing being, though, that particle beams and lasers aren't at all interchangable: they're fundamentally different kinds of weapons.
Examples would be heavy beam lasers and their meta equivalents of heavy anode particle streams; alternatively, mega beam lasers and tachyon beams.
Granted, you could start with the wave-particle duality, but it doesn't change that a laser is, at its core, the amplification of light (hence the acronym -- Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), whereas particle beams fire electrons, atoms, or what do at things at high energies. Confusing lack of distinction is confusing; a case of Did Not Do The Research (that could be rectified?), or some handwavery I'm missing here?
tl;dr Physicsy type wonders about why lasers are confused with other kinds of weapons.
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Dilaro thagriin
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Posted - 2011.06.07 23:31:00 -
[2]
well.. if we are being a little handwavy... a stream of light, is a steady stream of photons, so, in essence, it is a particle stream... albeit on a sub-micro scale.
the particle streams and the such are merely a larger variant.
as for why the different classes may use slightly different technology to simulate the same result... different manufacturers, researchers, technicians.... etc..
it's the same reason we have m16's and ak47's in the real world. :) both do the same thing, but in slightly different ways.
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Kybernetes Moros
Amarr True Slave Foundations
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Posted - 2011.06.07 23:41:00 -
[3]
Hence my reference to the wave-particle duality, yes. :P By that definition, however, every weapon in the game is some flavour of particle stream.
It's not a major concern by any means, against the various breaks from physics there are (which're, y'know, mostly necessary if you want a fun game), but still, it's kinda weird. It's not like they're comparable: lasers do one thing, involving stimulating photon emission; particle beams do entirely another, which boils down to alternating current and electrostatics.
Similarly, lasers make sense using frequency crystals, masers aside -- they swap out the gain medium for one that works on a different wavelength. Particle beams don't: they're just beams of particles.
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Mithfindel
Zenko Incorporated
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Posted - 2011.06.08 11:06:00 -
[4]
The particle streams could be some kind of electrolasers. The problem is, electrolasers work by ionizing the medium, which then conducts an electric shock - and in space, there's no medium to be ionized. So it'd need to generate that medium, preferably with something that "sticks together" and isn't immediately dispersed into the void (dipole molecules or something), and then quickly ionize the stream and administer electric shock via the electrode. This is not exactly staying within the boundaries of what I know about physics, though.
But yes, tachyon beams would be an exotic particle beam - since the tachyons appear from the model, requiring a particle that moves in the imaginary axis of complex time space. Apparently there are some disturbances that are explained with tachyonic fields in Quantum Field Dynamics, but what their weaponized macroscopic effect would be is not (at least to me) immediately, at least without chemical assistance. (Which may be illegal, depending on where you live - do not try this at home.)
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Kybernetes Moros
Amarr True Slave Foundations
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Posted - 2011.06.08 13:39:00 -
[5]
Aha, forgot all about electrolasers. The lack of a medium is a pain in the ass, though, if only because of the multi-kilometre scale of the weaponry; if we squint a little and wave our hands about, I suppose using a medium not prone to dispersal and trying to hold it more-or-less in the same place with a forcefield or whatever could work. I mean, it's awkward, but I suppose that a ship'd be capable of maintaining that for the few seconds necessary.
Tachyons are a whole new kind of headache: superluminal and moving faster as their energy decreases, with a consequentially imaginary mass. In real physics, tachyon condensation was devised to eliminate the tachyon rather than use it to solve a problem in and of itself -- while the concept doesn't contradict the laws of physics per se, that doesn't mean they exist, and although we can't disprove them, there's no real proof that they exist rather than a smattering of anomalous results that may or may not be tachyons' doing. Their interaction with bradyons is also weird and makes causality cry, but trying to resolve the problem of tachyons in modern physics might be going a little bit off the deep end. >_>
In any case, yeah, I suppose electrolasers could work as a suitably justified-ish handwave in the absence of anything more. As for the exact mechanics of tachyon beams beyond an example of my OP's point, I'm perfectly happy to leave undescribed and not think too hard about, heh. :d |
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CCP Jasonitas
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Posted - 2011.06.08 17:20:00 -
[6]
The Amarr use science to power their lasers. Everyone else uses love.
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CCP Manifest
C C P
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Posted - 2011.06.08 17:30:00 -
[7]
Originally by: CCP Jasonitas The Amarr use science to power their lasers. Everyone else uses love.
I thought they use faith... whereas you use farts.
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Kybernetes Moros
Amarr True Slave Foundations
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Posted - 2011.06.08 18:25:00 -
[8]
Hey, get enough of them and a match...
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Kyoko Sakoda
Caldari Veto. Veto Corp
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Posted - 2011.06.08 20:14:00 -
[9]
Originally by: Kybernetes Moros Hey, get enough of them and a match...
That's how the Minmatar do it.
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Graelyn
Amarr Adamant Edge Aegis Militia
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Posted - 2011.06.09 09:21:00 -
[10]
I have always considered Amarrian weapons to be particle beams. The alternative would be quite silly, and would lead to invincible Matari warships covered in mirrors.
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Youli Kepain
Scapegoats
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Posted - 2011.06.09 12:14:00 -
[11]
Originally by: Graelyn I have always considered Amarrian weapons to be particle beams. The alternative would be quite silly, and would lead to invincible Matari warships covered in mirrors.
Have you ever tried to polish rust?
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Mithfindel
Zenko Incorporated
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Posted - 2011.06.10 11:50:00 -
[12]
Actually, what do you think the 90% EM resistance on some ships is?
...though truth to be told, mirrors don't work too well for the amounts of power we are talking about. The residue heat (for mirror not reflecting perfectly) could quickly dim the mirrored surface. Also the issue where Amarr are apparently able to modify the wavelength of their lasers from long waves to gamma radiation - one could theorize that multifrequency crystals are as efficient as they are because the turrets analyzes the reflection and absorption profile of the target and then uses the best-penetrating or best-absorbing wavelengths.
But the best advice about the topic would be likely "Don't examine this too closely."
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