HELP! I need a time machine.

[samtheflash82]

how about making the super collider just a means to discover how to make time machines and then actually build one using the collider knowledge in outer space?

[Stevie]

I've already written the science parts of the story and it looks good, to start again...

[Royce]

At the University of Connecticut a professor, Dr. Ronald L. Mallett, has theoretically designed a way to travel though time.

 

The university thinks its the real deal and is currently trying to get funding to build and test it.

 

A link to one of his sites is here with two technical papers: http://www.phys.uconn.edu/~mallett/main/time_travel.htm

 

Also his email taken off the University's Physics Department webpage is:

rlmallett@aol.com

 

I never met him, but I've passed his office a few times going to physics lab .

[bombus]

Your time machine is just a plot device which allows you to tell the characters' stories. There's no particular need for it to be explained in any great detail.

 

I concur! Who cares! Ian M Banks stuff are full of pseudo-science but still a great read!

 

Just make sure you are vague enough about the details to be plausible...

[southerncross]

Can't someone give me a view on the proposed time machine OR suggest a time machine that doesn't involve racing through space and black holes???????

 

Sure, it may require you change your story completely though.

 

By using the memory of the past subject you live life as that person, sensing all that they sense and thinking all that they think. You do this for a relatively short time remembering the experience when you stop meditating or when you wake or however your story goes.

 

In this way you experience another time without the need to travel through time via a machine. The story could go any way you want, as in you don't know youself while you are the past subject, which seems more real than the alternative, you become the subject in the past.

 

The story could be more focused on the present and the change you have after the experience of past subjects lives.

 

Hope this was food for thought.

[Reaper]

I'm open to toes of any sort if it works. Can you elaborate?

 

I thought of a super heavy particle locally stabilising worm holes and a tachyon field generator to coalesce the wormholes into a phased Time Hole (time gate if you prefer), any theoretical premise would do that makes physicists go... "mmn, I wonder?"

 

But it needs to be on Earth happening in the event chamber of a GIANT super collider.

 

 

I don't know if you are still coming back and reading this, but I'll give my suggestion. The main problem, which has already been stated, is causality; to simply allow travel through time would wreak havoc on the known laws of physics (and the rest of the universe).

 

It wouldn't matter if you are just using it as a plot device, or just creating another universe, but you do seem to want to write what is called "hard science fiction". The solutions I can think of are:

 

-Create your own laws of physics: You don't have to exactly alter the current ones, but you can certainly introduce new ones. Say, for example, the particles that are used to power this device have to be in a certain quantum state or something like that to produce the energies necessary for time travel. The problem is that this is, of course, way too speculative.

 

-Don't make it man-made: If you don't make it man-made, but instead either an alien device or a natural wormhole, then you can avoid a lot of the problems of actually designing one without breaking the laws of physics. You can then make the whole plot about how it works, and the properties of the thing, along with anything you might think of. It might seem like a dull plot, but if done right I'm sure you can attract a lot of viewers, even physicists.

 

Of course, both of those suggestions have problems that would make it very difficult to resolve for those who want to make the whole thing plausible. Therefore, by far the best suggestion that I could think of is this one:

 

-Only allow time travel into the future: If you make it so that it is impossible to travel into the past, then it would certainly be possible to come up with a design that could realistically be made, or at least plausible (e.g. have a space ship go really, really fast, or use gravitons). You wouldn't have to alter or introduce any new laws of physics, since the "mechanics" of time are well known via Relativity. You also would be able to cut down on the amount of "exotic materials" that would have to be used to achieve such a feat. There would be no causality problems. You would be able to limit the technobabble. And best of all, by only allowing travel into the future, I'm pretty certain you can come up with some pretty fantastic story plots revolving around the device and the people that use it. Besides which, we already have a pretty good idea on what happened in the past, why not just go forward instead and let your imagination run wild .

 

Well, I hope this helps, good luck with that story of yours! I'll look forward to reading it once it's published...