1. Speed

2. Derivation

3. Maximum speed limit

4. See also

5. References

6. External links

A photon rocket has been a leading rocket scheme that inspired generations of rocket enthusiasts. By definition, the photon rocket is a rocket that uses thrust from the momentum of emitted photons (radiation pressure by emission) for its propulsion.^[1] Photon rocket has been widely discussed for decades as a next generation propulsion that can make interstellar flight possible, which requires the ability to propel spacecraft to speeds at least 10% of the light speed, v~0.1c = 30,000 km/sec (Tsander, 1967).  Photon propulsion has been considered to be one of the best available interstellar propulsion concepts, because it is founded on established physics and technologies (Forward, 1984).  Traditional photon rockets are proposed to be powered by onboard generators, as in the traditional nuclear photonic rocket. The standard textbook case of such a rocket is the ideal case where all of the fuel is converted to photons which are radiated in the same direction. In more realistic treatments, one takes into account that the beam of photons is not perfectly collimated, that not all of the fuel is converted to photons, and so on. A large amount of fuel would be required and the rocket would be a huge vessel.^[2][3] Bae recently proved that the maximum spacecraft speed achieved by onboard photon rockets even with fusion is limited by the nuclear fuel mass as described below.^[4]

The limitations posed by the rocket equation can be overcome, as long as the reaction mass is not carried by the spacecraft. In the Beamed Laser Propulsion (BLP), the photon generators and the spacecraft are physically separated and the photons are beamed from the photon source to the spacecraft using lasers. However, BLP is limited because of the extremely low thrust generation efficiency of photon reflection. One of the best ways to overcome the inherent inefficiency in producing thrust of the photon thruster by amplifying the momentum transfer of photons by recycling photons between two high reflectance mirrors.

Photon recycling multiple times over distances in a passive optical cavity, which consists of two high-reflectance mirrors only, expands laser beam diameter, thus forms a Fabry-Perrot optical resonance cavity in which any small movement of mirrors would destroy the resonance condition and null photonic thrust.  Bae discovered^[5] that in an active optical cavity formed by two high-reflectance mirrors and a laser gain medium in between, similar to the typical laser cavity, photon recycling becomes insensitive to the movement of mirrors.   Bae named^[6] the laser thruster based on the photon recycling in an active optical cavity Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT). In 2015 his team demonstrated the number of photon recycling up to 1,540 over a distance of a few meters and photonic thrusts up to 3.5 mN with the use of a 500 W laser system,^[7] and a Cubesat (0.75 kg in weight) was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzLEK8Zq7Pk propelled] with PLT. PLT can in principle overcome “the tyranny of the rocket equation,” which implies that the required onboard fuel mass exponentially increases as a function of the destination velocity for conventional thrusters, thus, if successfully developed, can expand human space endeavors beyond earth orbits.^[8][9]

Speed

The speed an ideal photon rocket will reach, in the absence of external forces, depends on the ratio of its initial and final mass:

where is the initial mass and is the final mass.^[10]

The gamma factor corresponding to this speed has the simple expression:

.

At 10% the speed of light, the gamma factor is about 1.005, implying is very nearly 0.9.

Derivation

We denote the four-momentum of the rocket at rest as , the rocket after it has burned its fuel as , and the four-momentum of the emitted photons as . Conservation of four-momentum implies:

squaring both sides (i.e. taking the Lorentz inner product of both sides with themselves) gives:

According to the energy-momentum relation (), the square of the four-momentum equals the square of the mass, and because photons have zero mass.

As we start in the rest frame (i.e. the zero momentum frame) of the rocket, the initial four-momentum of the rocket is:

while the final four-momentum is:

Therefore, taking the Minkowski inner product (see four-vector), we get:

We can now solve for the gamma factor, obtaining:

Maximum speed limit

Standard theory says that the theoretical speed limit of a photon rocket is below the speed of light. Haug has recently, in Acta Astronautica,^[10] suggested a maximum speed limit for an ideal photon rockets that is just below the speed of light. This speed he has suggested is a function of the heaviest subatomic particle in the rocket. The maximum velocity can based on this be calculated to be

where is the Planck length and is the reduced Compton wavelength of the subatomic fundamental particle. This velocity is for known subatomic particles above what currently can be achieved at the Large Hadron Collider, but below the speed of light. Based on the relativistic rocket equation this also means two Planck masses of fuel are needed for every subatomic particle in payload in the ideal photon rocket to reach maximum velocity.

Regardless of the photon generator characteristics, a unified theory^[4] on onboard photon rockets powered with nuclear fission and fusion can prove their engineering speed limits.  In this unified theory, it is assumed that the propulsion system has a single stage. Suppose the total mass of the photon rocket/spacecraft is M that includes fuels with a mass of αM with α<1.  Assuming the fuel mass to propulsion-system energy conversion efficiency γ and the propulsion-system energy to photon energy conversion efficiency δ<<1, the maximum total photon energy generated for propulsion, E_p, is given by

If the total photon flux can be directed at 100% efficiency to generate thrust, the total photon thrust, T_p, is given by

The maximum attainable spacecraft velocity, V_max, of the photon propulsion system for V_max<

For example, the approximate maximum velocities achievable by onboard nuclear powered photon rockets with assumed parameters are given in Table 1. The maximum velocity limits by such nuclear powered rockets are less than 0.02% of the light velocity (60 km/s). Therefore, onboard nuclear photon rockets are unsuitable for interstellar missions.

The Beamed Laser Propulsion, such as Photonic Laser Thruster, however, can provide the maximum spacecraft velocity approaching the light speed, c, in principle.

See also

• Beam-powered propulsion
• Laser propulsion
• Nuclear photonic rocket
• Photonic laser thruster

References

External links

• Whatever happened to Photon Rockets?

• Robert A. Gleason
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