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[[File:QSD 4D.gif|thumb|360x360px|The tunnel to the Ascension Plane in a three-dimensional stabilized fabric through four-dimensional space]] |
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|image1=Unknown.png |
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The '''Quantum Shift Drive''' is a form of superluminal travel prevalent in the [[Palioxis Starfield]] and the staple of many civilizations spread across the vast realm. The Quantum Shift is the fastest and most effective form of shipboard faster-than-light travel ever invented in the course of billions of years, at the peak of technological advancement. Drives exceed the velocity of light by several tens of thousands of times, making interstellar travel a walk in the park. |
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|manufacturer=Most nations in [[Florathel]] and satellites |
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|design_year=First use believed to be ~6 million years ago by the [[Providence Union]] |
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|source_of_power=Anything that has enough, usually antimatter |
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|ftl_range=Effectively infinite, 7,500 ly per jump within a galaxy, 80,000 ly per jump in intergalactic space |
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}}Quantum Shift Drives are a high-speed Faster-than-light propulsion system primarily used in [[Florathel]] in which a spacecraft appears to "jump" instantly from one point to another. After the jump, the ship arrives at a precise destination up to 7,500 light-years away, beyond which accuracy rapidly decays. Utilizing very powerful computers fitted to a ship to calibrate the drive for each jump, the drive is among the fastest in the universe and can be fitted on individual civilian ships with recent improvements in energy storage. |
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Initially used by the [[Providence Union]] and other concurrent civilizations, the Shift Drive remains in use to this day. It is essential for interstellar trade, and many nations spend decent fractions of their budget on improving it further. |
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The Quantum Shift Drive propels a spaceship to the [[Ascension Plane]] through four-dimensional space by constructing a temporary three-dimensional fabric. Since the Ascension Plane's coordinates match those of the Palioxis Starfield, it allows for precise interstellar travel through either manually or automatically defined courses, reshaping centuries of travel into hours or days. |
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== History == |
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The first known examples of use of the Quantum Shift Drive was by the [[Providence Union]], over 6 million years ago, although presumably other civilizations developed similar drives in the Elder Days. Over the intervening years, fairly rudimentary alternate forms were developed independently by other civilizations. |
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After [[Glanadi]] was discovered amongst the maze of stars in the Providence Cluster and the people of Florathel gained access to its archives, a very efficient prototype of the Quantum Shift Drive under development by the Union at its fall was uncovered. This form, which doubled the maximum effective jump range to 6,000 light-years, was quickly adopted by most nations across [[Florathel]] and its satellites. It was used to great effect in the [[War of Saiheran Succession]], with great fleets abruptly materializing near targets before anything could be done to stop them. |
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Ascension Plane travel, however, is hindered by the presence of gravity-shadows, metaphysical areas of space-time forged by the gravity wells of large celestial bodies, which, upon contact, decimate the vessel. These phenomena necessitate the creation of predefined routes in the Ascension Plane, known as "Starlanes," through which most starships automatically travel. The speed of a vessel within the Ascension Plane is defined by the Quantum Shift Drive's potential and is at a continuously fixed state. |
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The formation of the [[United Nations of the Florathel]] made it very easy for scientists to communicate across borders. This sped up the development of many technologies, but particularly the Quantum Shift Drive, which was refined to its present state, halving its energy use and improving external energy storage enough to allow placement on small civilian craft. Today, the Quantum Shift Drive can jump up to 7,500 light-years with virtually no positional errors. In intergalactic space, where exact positioning matters little, this range increases to 80,000 light-years before the craft starts going in completely the wrong direction. |
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== '''Design & Capabilities''' == |
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[[File:QSDCharge.mp3|thumb|The Quantum Shift Drive charging after calibration, heard from within the craft. The sound at the end is the actual jump.|left]]The Quantum Shift Drive relies on a key facet of quantum mechanics, the fact that every possible event has a nonzero probability of occurring. The drive essentially takes the event of the ship changing position to the target and magnifies its probability through exceedingly complicated mechanisms that require 20 textbooks to explain. |
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This concept has been applied to other events such as the creation of new substances, but that requires far more computing power and energy to cause atoms to teleport across large distances from disparate locations into a new arrangement than to cause a group of atoms to teleport to the same location and remain in the same configuration. |
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=== '''Shift-Gates''' === |
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==Dangers== |
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[[File:Shift-Gate.jpg|thumb|360x360px|A typical Shift-Gate]] |
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One potential danger in a hasty jump is that of rematerializing within a solid object. This causes the atoms of the craft to be bonded with those of the object, rendering the parts of the craft thus merged to be rendered immobile. This primarily occurs during hasty jumps or jumps to unknown regions of space, as the computer's calculations account for known objects and ensure that a ship does not impact anything as it rematerializes. This is still very unlikely, even neglecting calculations to avoid it, as space is famously very empty. |
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Quantum Shift Drives require constant care and complex knowledge of navigation, discouraging some people from using them. That's where the '''Shift-Gates''' come in; vast structures in outer space, which lead to a specific destination, most often a large population center. Most type-3 civilizations of the Palioxis Starfield have constructed tens, if not, hundreds of thousands of these gates, all interconnected to major population centers in a complex system resembling a web. Shift-Gates are immense structures, though not vast enough to be classified as megastructures. |
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[[Category:Technology]] |
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Shift-Gates operate in a different manner to regular Quantum Shift Drives; they utilize long-lasting, artificial three-dimensional pathways through four-dimensional space, which link the Palioxis Starfield to the Ascension Plane. Shift-Gates are power-hungry devices, so much so that they need around a quarter of the energy output of an average star to be properly sustained, though this tends to vary with location and size. Furthermore, shift-gates require cooling down every hour so as to not overload the complex circuits. |
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==='''Starlanes'''=== |
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=== '''Classification''' === |
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[[File:QSDCharge.mp3|thumb|The Quantum Shift Drive charging up. The sound at the end is the craft entering four-dimensional space|left]] |
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[[Category:Superluminal Technology]] |
[[Category:Superluminal Technology]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Author:_The_Minmus_Derp]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Florathel]][[Category: Active Development]] |
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[[Category:TheStellarExplorer's articles]] |
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Latest revision as of 18:24, March 27, 2025
Quantum Shift Drive
Most nations in Florathel and satellites
Quantum Shift Drives are a high-speed Faster-than-light propulsion system primarily used in Florathel in which a spacecraft appears to "jump" instantly from one point to another. After the jump, the ship arrives at a precise destination up to 7,500 light-years away, beyond which accuracy rapidly decays. Utilizing very powerful computers fitted to a ship to calibrate the drive for each jump, the drive is among the fastest in the universe and can be fitted on individual civilian ships with recent improvements in energy storage.
Initially used by the Providence Union and other concurrent civilizations, the Shift Drive remains in use to this day. It is essential for interstellar trade, and many nations spend decent fractions of their budget on improving it further.
History
The first known examples of use of the Quantum Shift Drive was by the Providence Union, over 6 million years ago, although presumably other civilizations developed similar drives in the Elder Days. Over the intervening years, fairly rudimentary alternate forms were developed independently by other civilizations.
After Glanadi was discovered amongst the maze of stars in the Providence Cluster and the people of Florathel gained access to its archives, a very efficient prototype of the Quantum Shift Drive under development by the Union at its fall was uncovered. This form, which doubled the maximum effective jump range to 6,000 light-years, was quickly adopted by most nations across Florathel and its satellites. It was used to great effect in the War of Saiheran Succession, with great fleets abruptly materializing near targets before anything could be done to stop them.
The formation of the United Nations of the Florathel made it very easy for scientists to communicate across borders. This sped up the development of many technologies, but particularly the Quantum Shift Drive, which was refined to its present state, halving its energy use and improving external energy storage enough to allow placement on small civilian craft. Today, the Quantum Shift Drive can jump up to 7,500 light-years with virtually no positional errors. In intergalactic space, where exact positioning matters little, this range increases to 80,000 light-years before the craft starts going in completely the wrong direction.
Operation
The Quantum Shift Drive relies on a key facet of quantum mechanics, the fact that every possible event has a nonzero probability of occurring. The drive essentially takes the event of the ship changing position to the target and magnifies its probability through exceedingly complicated mechanisms that require 20 textbooks to explain.
This concept has been applied to other events such as the creation of new substances, but that requires far more computing power and energy to cause atoms to teleport across large distances from disparate locations into a new arrangement than to cause a group of atoms to teleport to the same location and remain in the same configuration.
Dangers
One potential danger in a hasty jump is that of rematerializing within a solid object. This causes the atoms of the craft to be bonded with those of the object, rendering the parts of the craft thus merged to be rendered immobile. This primarily occurs during hasty jumps or jumps to unknown regions of space, as the computer's calculations account for known objects and ensure that a ship does not impact anything as it rematerializes. This is still very unlikely, even neglecting calculations to avoid it, as space is famously very empty.