Fiction:Delpha Coalition of Planets/Technology/Industry

Industry

Real World - Kardashav Scale
The DCP use various power sources, and is not picky, using as many resources as they can muster, on some worlds even using coal, oil, natural gas and even steam (steam power is used on worlds orbiting stars with incredibly strong magnetic fields) if need be. But the DCP's advanced technology, needs power from vacuum energy (supplied by black holes), large-scale antimatter (see matter to energy conversion), fusion reactors the size of cities and the energy from stars themselves.

On planetary colonies, electricity and other forms of current are transmitted not by power cables or optics but by Tesla coils transmitting low but continious AC current through the earth or atmosphere (why there's lots of canals in DCP colonies, as water conducts electricity well) and solar mirrors (collecting beamed energy from space satellites connected to the Grid).

First Generation: Power Generation

Stellar husbrandry: The Grid (galactic solar energy distribution)

The Interstellar Grid and the principles of star lifting.

• Application: Powering entire sectors, supplying energy to Gravitech.
• Set up time: Between 1 and 3 years for a small sector, can expanded, taking longer.
• Tech'type and tier: Tier 1, Stellar Engineering

The DCP's main power source is solar energy, but on a truly massive scale. In fact, the Grid, is often where all the DCP's power consuming technology begins.Dyson Shells and bubbles, form a vast web around a star, in fact most important systems have them. Much of the stellar output is recieved, along with radiation flares and plasma storms. The energy recieved each second from a G-type star (like our sun) is 80 times that of the greatest bomb detonated on Earth. Stellar Engines, are even more massive constructs, using the stars as a sort of engine, as well as a massive power assembaly.

Stars, are often encased with Dyson bubbles or other star collecting megastructures, which stream the energy into Kraskinov tubes, wormhole-like phenomena that remain a stable network. The open mouths of each tube has assymetric mass distribution (complex term for in one way and out the other lol), so the matter and energy of the star is "pumped" through the spacetime "pipework" or "power grid" which fuels entire the sectors. The Stellar Engines do this on an even more massive scale. As the stream of energy passes through the wormhole, it must enter fields of exotic forms of matter, converting it into usable filtered energy, without the "waste products" such as alpha decay particles. Power distribution must be carefully managed however, too much that would outweigh the amount of exotic matter could destroy the network.

Black Hole Factories and kernels

The Straggler black hole facility.

• Applications: Producing exotic matter extraction for advanced tech, virtual energy capture.
• Set up time: 5 years
• Tech'type and tier: Tier 1, gravitech

The DCP first discovered the uses of black holes at the beginning of the Golden Age in which they harnessed antimatter from the galactic core. In the modern times, the DCP use Intermediate-mass black holes in the centers of globular clusters, called Black Hole factories. In order to achieve this, the DCP must manipulate them in some way. Creating black holes from swirling clouds of gas in the same manner as stars form is impossible, because the particles of gas and dust never reach the Swartzchild radius.

1. The DCP must first find a natural black hole, preferably densely packed globular clusters filled with degenerate stars such as neutron and quark stars, or, gather enough neutronium from neutron stars to have enough mass to collapse into infinity. Since such clusters are usually small, the DCP doesn't have to move the stars very far.
2. Kerr loop - The exotic matter already collected is then used to warp space strongly enough to move the neutron stars into a close proximity (the stars aren't moving, spacetime around them is), so closely that they fall into each others strong gravitational field, the result is a spinning Kerr loop, in which the neutron stars imploded into a ring-shaped singularity. As this happens, DCP ships must clear the area for a few years due to intense gravitational waves. The result is a black hole that cannot really be guided.
3. A structural frame is built around the black hole, which harnesses Hawking's radiation that escapes the black hole. Accreting matter, jets of radiation and antimatter around the black hole also provides efficient power generation for energy-sapping projects that involve gravitational technolgy and hyperspace.

Subatomic black holes

• Application: Power source
• Set up time: Billionth's of a second
• Tech'type and tier: Tier 2/1, Femto/Quantumtech

However, tiny subatomic black holes can also be created when the DCP collide massive amounts of radiation in giant particle accelerators. The result is the creation of microscopic black holes that quickly cease to exist, but last long enough to release incredible energy. If enough is created, they can form a stable black hole, which spins so quickly spacetime is dragged around it. However, these still can only be sustained as long as the DCP has the power to generate them, but unlike the artificial black hole's above, these can be portable.

Matter/Antimatter conversion: Reversing chirality

Chirality, refers to the handedness of objects, and in the case of subatomic particles; their spin, their direction in time, and other properties. The only fundamental difference between matter and antimatter is their respective electric charges. Antimatter is still a viable power source in the Delpha Coalition of Planets, however, there are few means of collecting or generating enough to be useful (most civilisations build vast particle accelerators powered by monstrous power sources to generate sufficient quantities of antimatter, or simply make a lot of effort to capture antimatter from natural radioactive sources). The DCP generally has two methods of antimatter production, one is to use "Q-balls" (also used as starkillers, see military section), however, they proved inefficient, because of difficulties containing the soliton.

For a long time, it was known that antimatter particles are equivilient to time reversed entities. Notions of past, present and future is related to the perceptions of organisms which evolve in increasing high entropic environments, but time itself, stretches in either direction, as space does, in short, a positron can be an electron moving backwards in time relative to normal matter. How could someone time-reverse matter? In the past century, the DCP made great leaps in spacetime engineering and quantumscale-technology, which included advanced studies of non-orientable spacetime metrics, these are topologies only have one boundary or a continious curb (a well-known example is a möebius strip, draw a line and it will meet itself without changing direction). This can also apply for wormholes, which can invert the appearence on objects on the other side, but use of a standard wormhole isn't enough.

With the aid of the AI Netspace, the DCP folded a wormhole into a klein bottle, surfaces of space were removed and re-arranged into a two-dimensional manifold in four dimensions, because of this, a Klein bottle is impossible in three dimensions, thus, the klein bottle was constructed in hyperspace by the patient observance of the AI Chirality, who's mind was not confined to 3D realm of the universe. Matter, tapped from a nearby star was bled through into hyperspace where it entered the boundary-less volume of the newly created Klein bottles, the matter never crossing an edge. Upon entering the klein bottles, notions of "infalling" and "outgoing" matter lose meaning, as well as other chiral properties like charge, this was considered a problem, because there would be a mix of matter and antimatter leaving the klein bottle. Its geometry had to be carefully aligned so material that left the Klein bottle were reversed, left handed gloves became right handed gloves, but more importantly, matter had become antimatter. This is the fastest known way to create antimatter other than the Big Bang, and is more efficient at it as well, producing 100% antimatter, dangerous q-balls, monstrous particle accelerators and vast mining methods were no longer needed.

• Note: Ghelæ has pointed out a "bootstrap paradox" with time-reversed particles and klein bottles - "Imagine you're watching the electron. It goes inside the klein bottle. When it comes out of the klein bottle, it's a positron, so it now starts travelling back in time. But it can't go back in time, since this is the earliest point in the positron's history. If the positron went back in time, you would see it apparently meeting up with the electron while the electron was going through or coming out of the klein bottle at which point both would vanish." Basically if the electron that was emitted is A, the electron entering the klein bottle is B, its reversal point is C, C then reverses to A which vanishes as A is created. but I identified a solution. The Feynman diagrams that show a positon is a time reversed electron should not be taken at face value, its simply equiviliences. Its equivilient to a time reversed particle - such an interaction may occur for example with pairs created together, but when you have antimatter in large amounts or antimatter mixed with matter, interacting with the rest of the universe, it conforms to the arrow of time as everything else, because entropy is a statistical system, with since mathematics is logically consistent everywhere. It must be prone to the same statistics. On the small scale equivilient particle can be time reversed but when interacting with an entropic system it no longer matters.

Zero-point-energy

There are three known-methods of siphoning zero-point energy, the most known method, it to capture virtual photons which pop in and out of the vacuum before annihilating, this vacuum energy exists in every position of the universe. This is easily done by snaring the photons which are able to escape black holes ("Hawking's radition"), either in the form of quantum singularities or even stellar-mass black holes for more advanced civilisations. Unfortunately, this is a slow, yet steady stream of energy.

Several precursor races and the AI Netspace, have been studied by the DCP, Apalos and Galactic Empire of Cyrannus (which all eveloped them seperatly), which allows for an ingenious method of collecting zero-point-energy and it is related to hypermatter, which is the vacuum energy of hyperspace. In the hyperspatial layers, the extra dimensions are more open, allowing the energy there to vibrate in higher dimensions, and when brought into real space, all that energy is suddenly confined to three dimensions of spacetime, the energy is carried by photons which can then be used to power hypermatter reactors. This provides not only a steady stream, but also neccesary "kick" to provide for kardashev late II to III civilisations.

Planetary materials

Many materials are still mined and quarried from planets. The DCP consume everything to keep their civilisation going, even fossil fuels, a planet can be sucked dry of oil within weeks, for example. Various different planets harbour unusual minerals, or variations in elemental content.

Even stone is used in occasional construction! It is surprising how strong stone structures actually are, especially as they pass the test of time. A combination with advanced technology gives rise to an interesting architecture, such as semi-sentient marble.

Spice, is valuable biogenic mineral produced from Panspermic organisms that live in the Lithosphere, Asthenosphere and deeper mantle of many worlds (though this structure can itself vary), some are made of heavy elements and appear like living rock. It is theorised that these organisms were once created by a precursor race billions of years before and have since spread around the universe. Long-term survival of these organisms can lead to prolithic populations, sometimes changing the geochemical and geophysical processes of planets, even leading to interactions with surface organisms. Such planets are sometimes called "Gaia worlds", however, they have diversified so much different Spice organisms have different biochemistries, and in some cases spice is very useful and valuable, even to use as spacecraft propulsion fuel. White spice occasionally appears on gas giants,nand the DCP use it for occasional trade with foreign powers.

Secondary industry: Processing from the subatomic scale

Advanced materials science include; Nano-molecular assembelers, which can be used be to self-repair hull breaches on starships, as a Berserker weapons, terraforming and recycling technology (Nanotechnology), Smart materials, these are special materials that can adapt to the environment around them, using an AI or nanotechnology, Superstrong materials, materials must be strong, yet light weight and flexible to survive the intense and harsh enviroments of outer space or extreme planetary enviroments. Materials range from hyperdense neutronium (collected from neutron stars or the planets that orbit them) and degenerate matter to carbon nanofirbre composites and Superconductors which allow levitation on vehicles, buildings and other devices. Unlike modern day superconductors, they can work in a wide range of temperatures (See Superconductor).

Exotic matter (Scalar Quantum fields and negative stress-energy tensor fields)

• Applications: FTL travel, warpage of spacetime
• Set up time:
• Tech'type and tier: High energy physics

A Q-ball forge, the spinning central disk is a collection of Q-balls. A particle accelerator injects ordinary matter, which contacts the Q matter and is converted into antimatter, which is collected in EM charged containment fields, above and below the accelerator.

Exotic matter, is actually a loose term, it basically describes any form of matter with unusual properties, such as negative mass. However, exotic matter is not magic, so it can't break the laws of physics, however, it can distort spacetime and has a wide range of other unusual properties, with phenomena that is non-existent in normal matter. Most forms of exotic matter are in fact fields, called negative stress-energy tensor fields (resulting in negative mass). These negative fields are what the DCP use to their ways of distorting spacetime and changing the symmetries of forces and particles. Scalar quantum fields, refer to the random quantum fluctuations that exist in ever point in space and time, where two "virtual" particles, one positive and one negative are created. To prevent violation of Conservation laws, the two quickly cancel each other out, however, the DCP has found a way to separate them, and use this "zero-point energy" for their manipulation of quantum systems.

However, some strange states of matter exist as well. Q-balls, are stable Non-topological solitons, that are blobs of attracted bosonic particles (force mediators). Heavy Q-balls roam the universe, formed from the Big Bang, accounting for some of the dark matter in the universe but can also be created using scalar fields (φ). Kernals of Q matter can be forged by congregating these together. Q-balls have two main uses for the DCP, 1)converting matter into antimatter, 2)to infect stars, interfering with the weak nuclear force, slight changes, making it weaker or stronger could quickly kill a star, or speed up beta decay. Exotic atoms are atom-like particles not composed of normal hadrons (protons and neutrons), these include antimatter, monopole atoms, charmonium atoms, pentaquarks, dibaryons, strange matter and similar materials.

Production of Monopoles

• Application: Disrupting EM fields, superstrong materials, causing stellar quakes and as an "Ice Nine weapon".
• Set up time:
• Tech'type and tier: High energy physics

Magnetic monoples are stable particles with only one magnetic pole. Even if someone was to break a magnet down to the sub-atomic scale, it will still have two poles. A monople only has one. They are important to the structure of the cosmos, forged during the Big Bang, but can also be produced in giant particle accelerators (or smaller laser accelerators) under enough high energy collisions by fusion reactions. Monopoles have high mass, and must be stored appropriatly, as they can consume and convert protons, another potential "Ice-Nine weapon" (see below). They have a few uses 1)extremely strong magnetic fields, 2) dissipating most forms of shields, by converting the polarity of the field in only one pole. Because only positive and negative fields attract, with only one pole the force field soon disperses, an amusing weapon captains enjoy using on their confused enemy, 3) causing stellar quakes on the surface of neutron stars for neutronium extraction and 4) the ice nine weapon. Monopoles can also be captured and contained inside the graviational field of planets and especially neutron stars (for their deep gravity wells), ready for extraction.

Mass/Energy conversion

• Conversion technology
• Quantum replicators
• Transporters

Neutron-degenerate matter mining

• Application: Super-strong and dense material
• Set up time:
• Tech'type and tier: Tier 2/1

Neutronium is a superdense state of Neutron-degenerate matter, neutrons being electrically neutral means neutronium is chemically inert and emits no radiation unless the neutrons decay. Neutronium's strengh and versatility means it is very useful for building megastructure projects, as well as ultra-thin layerings on the hulls of starships from the stresses of FTL travel or extreme gravity.

• Extraction:

Neutron-degenerate matter is also incredibly difficult to extract, as it can be found only below the surface of a neutron star. Neutron stars however, have extremely unstable surfaces that can break out as stellar quakes (miners may create instabilities on the surface using exotic matter), allowing the matter in a liquid state to "bubble" to the surface and erupt. When it does, seismic detectors in orbit alert nearby enginnering facilities to transport the material.

• Casting and containing neutron star ashes:

The hardest process is now in operation. The neutrons are at millions of degrees, causing the gas pressure to be trillions to a quadrillion times the density of Earth's atmosphere at sea level and a density a million million times that of pure lead. The neutrons also will decay within 10 minuites, it seems this resource is impossible to contain. However, for several hundred years already the DCP engineers has been creating micro-black holes (some extensions of the Standard Model posit the existence of extra spatial dimensions, allowing the planck mass to not be lowest possible mass for a black hole which could make micro-black holes a minor possibility for 21st century supercolliders), and were creating subatomic-scale lattices and other pico and femto-scale structures. The end result neutronium is called blister neutronium (similar to the archaic blister steel), as the neutronium is supported by black holes. Gravity must be kept uniform and keeping them in the centre of a hollow sphere would suffice in a purely inertial frame of reference. Acceleration and external gravity could cause problems, the lorentz factor warps the size of objects as they approach the speed of light. This was solved by making the black hole and the interior of the sphere both equally charged.

Before the DCP discovered methods of using black holes, they tried using topological defects such as monopolium to try and hold the neutronium together, but it was extremely difficult to also keep the monopoles from touching the neutrons (which catalyzes the decay of neutrons into energetic radiation), another theoretical method would be to use a lattice of cosmic strings, but this was outside DCP technological capability. Using the sheer force of artificial gravity (with power siphoned from The Grid) did work, but as more energy was being used than gained neutronium was almost abandoned.

• Uses:

NDM is chemically inert, so is useless to the DCP other than in constructing megastructures in space, or transporting high energy materials. Ultra-thin layers are used in conjuction with monopolium of large dreadnought-ship hulls, and neutronium also has been used on a few ships as a superweapon (see weapons section). Sometimes the neutronium-monopolium reactions have been used to power nuclear energy for propulsion systems. Certains AI's in the AI Netspace use neutronium to compute with as it has zero electric resistance. Certain Elder races, the Grox and Apalos have been documented using NDM.

Food

On the majority of outer colonies, stations and starships, food is replicated (see Quantum replication), although larger worlds still have agriculture, perhaps only keeping with tradition. Just as plants are still grown, most "meat" is either replicated or grown from stem cells, although some members like Grimbolsaurians in the Coalition prefer to hunt prey or raise livestock.

And that is the issue in the DCP, there are lots of different member races, what is one man's delicay is another man's poison. However, all races can share each others food if it is replicated, with certain harmful or inedible parts removed. Some species in the Coalition don't "eat", but filter plankton, or gain nourishmnt from soil and sunlight.

40% of the population in the DCP is now Postsapient, a large of those no longer require much if any original biological nourishment. Times are changing fast.