FASTER THAN LIGHT 213
until they reach energies of trillions of electron volts, energies not seen
since the big bang. But even this monster of a machine falls far short
of producing energy anywhere near the Planck energy.
The next particle accelerator after the LHC will be the International Linear Collider (ILC). Instead of bending the path of subatomic
particles into a circle, the ILC will shoot them down a straight path.
Energy will be injected as the particles move along this path, until they
attain unimaginably large energies. Then a beam of electrons will collide with antielectrons, creating a huge burst of energy. The ILC will
be 30 to 40 kilometers long, or ten times the length of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, currently the largest linear accelerator. If all goes well,
the ILC is due to be completed sometime in the next decade.
The energy produced by the ILC will be .5 to 1.0 trillion electron
volts-less than the 14 trillion electron volts of the LHC, but this is deceptive. (In the LHC, the collisions between the protons take place between the constituent quarks making up the proton. Hence the
collisions involving the quarks are less than 14 trillion electron volts.
That is why the ILC will produce collision energies larger than those
of the LHC.) Also, because the electron has no known constituent, the
dynamics of the collisions between electron and antielectron are simpler and cleaner.
But realistically, the ILC, too, falls far short of being able to open
up a hole in space-time. For that, you would need an accelerator a
quadrillion times more powerful. For our Type 0 civilization, which
uses dead plants for fuel (e.g., oil and coal), this technology is far beyond anything we can muster. But it may become possible for a Type
III civilization.
Remember, a Type III civilization, which is galactic in its use of
energy, consumes 10 billion times more energy than a Type II civilization, whose consumption is based on the energy of a single star. And a
Type II civilization in turn consumes 10 billion times more energy
than a Type I civilization, whose consumption is based on the energy
of a single planet. In one hundred to two hundred years, our feeble
Type 0 civilization will reach Type I status.
Given that projection, we are a long, long way from being able to
until they reach energies of trillions of electron volts, energies not seen
since the big bang. But even this monster of a machine falls far short
of producing energy anywhere near the Planck energy.
The next particle accelerator after the LHC will be the International Linear Collider (ILC). Instead of bending the path of subatomic
particles into a circle, the ILC will shoot them down a straight path.
Energy will be injected as the particles move along this path, until they
attain unimaginably large energies. Then a beam of electrons will collide with antielectrons, creating a huge burst of energy. The ILC will
be 30 to 40 kilometers long, or ten times the length of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, currently the largest linear accelerator. If all goes well,
the ILC is due to be completed sometime in the next decade.
The energy produced by the ILC will be .5 to 1.0 trillion electron
volts-less than the 14 trillion electron volts of the LHC, but this is deceptive. (In the LHC, the collisions between the protons take place between the constituent quarks making up the proton. Hence the
collisions involving the quarks are less than 14 trillion electron volts.
That is why the ILC will produce collision energies larger than those
of the LHC.) Also, because the electron has no known constituent, the
dynamics of the collisions between electron and antielectron are simpler and cleaner.
But realistically, the ILC, too, falls far short of being able to open
up a hole in space-time. For that, you would need an accelerator a
quadrillion times more powerful. For our Type 0 civilization, which
uses dead plants for fuel (e.g., oil and coal), this technology is far beyond anything we can muster. But it may become possible for a Type
III civilization.
Remember, a Type III civilization, which is galactic in its use of
energy, consumes 10 billion times more energy than a Type II civilization, whose consumption is based on the energy of a single star. And a
Type II civilization in turn consumes 10 billion times more energy
than a Type I civilization, whose consumption is based on the energy
of a single planet. In one hundred to two hundred years, our feeble
Type 0 civilization will reach Type I status.
Given that projection, we are a long, long way from being able to