Tachyons in fiction

The hypothetical particles tachyons have inspired many occurrences of in fiction. In general, tachyons are a standby mechanism upon which many science fiction authors rely to establish faster-than-light communication, with or without reference to causality issues, as well as a means to achieve faster-than-light travel. Science writer Sidney Perkowitz commented "that the very word "tachyon," because of its unusual Greek-origin spelling and engagingly catchy hard "ch" sound, lends a certain "science-ness" or science coolness to fiction." Starting in the 1970s, tachyons were used in science-fiction to present a seemingly-plausible explanation for time travel and communication through time. Peter Nicholls, in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, describes Gregory Benford's Timescape (1980) as the first work to use tachyons to this effect "with some care". In the Star Trek franchise, in addition to facilitating faster-than-light travel, tachyons have been mentioned "for varied purposes, including cloaking a spacecraft, detection" of such cloaking and overcoming defensive shields, which has been regarded as "technobabble" by Mashable contributer Keith Wagstaff: dialogue that implies a scientific explanation, using a term with a real scientific concept behind it, "but really doesn't mean much."

Tachyon model.

Animation

See also

• A chronon is a fictional elementary particle with time-travel properties in some works of science fiction.
• Thiotimoline

Further reading

• Ash, Brian, ed. (1977). "Spacecraft and Star Drives". The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: Harmony Books. p. 77. ISBN 0-517-53174-7. OCLC 2984418.
• Nahin, Paul J. (1993). "Tachyonic Signals, Spooky Actions, and the Bell Antitelephone". Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction. New York, NY: American Institute of Physics. pp. 231–239. ISBN 978-0-88318-935-1.
• Nicholls, Peter (1983). "Time travel in physics". In Nicholls, Peter (ed.). The Science in Science Fiction. New York: Knopf. p. 94. ISBN 0-394-53010-1. OCLC 8689657.

External links

• Media related to Tachyons in fiction at Wikimedia Commons