Can the light saber be made?

Clearly, the lightsabre is not solely a laser based weapon, but relies instead on the confinement of a plasma by a shaped magnetic field. When the light sabre is fired up, a shaped magnetic field is projected from its end and a small amount of plasma (charged particles such as hydrogen nuclei, i.e. protons) is jettisoned into the containment field. A pulsed laser is then used to heat the plasma until it glows white hot and then to maintain the temperature by periodic pulses. When the light sabre is run down, the pulsed laser switches off, the magnetic field switches off, and the plasma dissipates in the air.

The technology this weapon relies on is the ability to shape a magnetic containment field into a beam shape, a powerful pulsed laser that fits in a light sabre handle, magnetized fuel cartridges of compressed plasma and a power source to power all this, that also fits in the handle. 117 patents have been registered to cover this work.

A newer verson of the weapon is currently under development. This does not rely on stored plasma, but can run on standard hydrogen. The pulsed laser is used to super heat a "packet" of hydrogen in a vacuum chamber in the handle - this strips all the electrons off the hydrogen nuclei forming a super hot plasma, which is then jettisoned from the handle into the magnetic containment field.

This approach reduces the power requirements of the weapon, since there is no longer a need to maintain a magnetic field within the fuel cartridges. This also reduces the complexity of refuelling the weapon, which no longer needs to be refuelled directly, but can rely on removable unpowered (inert) fuel cartridges. This also allows spares to be carried.

Another area of improvement considered, is the ability to retrieve the plasma back into the weapon when it is run down. This could further lengthen the life of the fuel cartridges. The problem has been the storage of this plasma which has caused significant overheating issues that we have not been able to overcome. This also puts extra strain on the internal power unit that would need to maintain a magnetic containment field to hold the plasma, as the current version does in the fuel cartridges, thus offsetting the saving on moving to inert fuel cartridges. We have therefore discontinued this approach, for now. If we can overcome the initial heating issues, we may attempt to rapidly cool the plasma back into a gas and restore it in the fuel cartridges, however a solution to this is some way off.

For further information please see our commercial in Janes Defence Weekly.

Darius Collins
Sabre Weapons Systems

It wont be any laser beam at all. Laser light travels indefinately, and the only way to prevent that is to have something on the other end of the emitting point stopping it or reflecting it.

It would consist of a plasma charge, several times the temperature of the surface of the sun. Constrained by a magnetic field operating at a frequency and power level that keeps the plasma charge consistant along the intended containment field length.

So the power requirement not only has to produce the plasma charge, but also the containment field. Not easy considering it can be done but requires a warehouse sized lab and power that would dim all the lights in a city the size of LA.

Plasma sabre is the correct technical name for it. Light sabre is only GL's Hollywood name for it.

Plasma is too labor intensive, go with a more EMF reactive particle and then you have your light saber.

p.s. there is already another thread about this exact same subject.

[edit on 23-12-2008 by Tenzin]

anything is possible it is nothing more than a super heated controled plasma beam with the energy source within the hilt and by the way i have created a working lightsaber i dont care if you dont believe me or not my name is johnathan watson age 52 i live in moscow russia like i said i dont care if you believe or not ok thank you

reply to post by Kruel


Or possibly a spherical forcefield torqued into a monomolecular cylinder.
Just 'cause it could.

Cheers

reply to post by corny


Actually, the laser at first is a low powered security beam. Once the beam is broken, then it really becomes a light saber and thus reduces the energy problem.

I'm not a scienctist or an electronics guru but it seems to me since light can be bent with fields, try arcing across two terminals say an inch or two apart and forcing the arc upwards useing a field. maybe stategically placing some lucite to direct the field better.

.
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. ^ .
+ | -

lucite field lucite

|
v

with a little field manipulation you could 'extend' the arc with a relative press of the button like the movie version and add in a bit of plamsa argon for a tubular shape and take the edge off the harsh arc (soften it up) the plasma would be relatively harmless but the arc would kill on contact any living thing and most likely set wood to fire upon contact.
Anyways chew on that for a bit

ever thought about plasma you can heat it up you can control it the negative and positive particles would clash. So that could be a possibility

reply to post by Jamuhn


thats an idea, if you mirror the light beam thousands of time it could possibly use less power

reply to post by Warhappy


Found this posted on another forum:

"Come on people! I thought everyone knew how to build a lightsaber. It's so simple, it only appears difficult.

Let me explain.

As you all know the handle is what contains the energy pack and crystal. when the switch is turned on, there is a thin telescoping rod that rises out of the handle with a round flat disk at the top. Envision it as a long nail with an extra large head rising out of the center of the handle.

You cannot see this rod because the magnetic energy plasma rises up out of the handle with it, spiraling around the rod until it reaches the bottom of the flat disc at the top.
A reflective solution then bounces the plasma back down the the rod, where as it spirals back through itself, generates the energy necessary to break down solids on a molecular level.
This allows it to pass through solid matter in an instant.
The reason the blades of a lightsaber cannot pass through another is because they repel themselves magnetically."


Additionally here is a website with a picture of how a lightsaber might be constucted:- www.thelightsaber.com...

on that site below the picture it sayd where to get the crystals, but unfortunatly they were talking about a Star Wars planet. so you would need to find some where else to get some crystals

post replys on your thoughts about these ideas.

Hmmm... time to reinject some life into this thread! (hopefully)


I first tried to solve this problem many years ago in childhood I once thought I had come up with a feasable solution which was:

one sided mirrors, I thought as light could pass through one side not the other you could bounce a laser infinately between two mirrors (the bottom being one sided) forever increasing in intensity.



However these days, I think the design of a light based weapon would be more akin to a fusion generator with exposed lasers - the main problems being:
1) the time you could sustain the reaction
2) the source of the initial energy

anyway, basic design would have a central telescoping tube with a parabolic disk mirror at the top (wider than the tube) and multiple (though probably not continuos lasers around the tube) - giving it a nice swing feel, but no stab ability

These lasers would be reflected back to a gold plate creating x-rays which would then be used to condense a deutrium/tritrium containing sphere (crystal) - creating power of an approximate order of 10 times the input power, hopefully allowing the laser to be sustained for 10 times the initial power input through some means of harnessing the energy and storage
(maybe initially you could plug another charged battery onto the end to provide the required starting power)

also the handle would require a near perfect insulator as containing a (minute) sun could proove to be a challange, and the weapon would require refeuling after each use (both a new crystal and initialising battery)

Much of this based on the technology being developed for nuclear fusion
news.bbc.co.uk...

Just stay away from mirrors!!



Another area I would consider investigating would be electron guns and... plasma (as we all suggested)
Electrons have a mass, therby providing something for the other sabers to contact. though obvious problems such as creating a near vacuum with gas corresponding to the desired colour in the appropriate location without an external shielding glass tube - again I'm thinking a central telescoping tube connecting cathode and anode, with vents (providing your gas and expelling nearby air) and suction (to recollect the gas for further use, and hopefully lower the pressure around the saber itself) would have to be implemented.

again this would provide a swing feel with the anode end being weighted appropriately, but no real stab ability

Just stay away from magnets!!



Not that it would be much use, but what better icon to show yesteryears products of imagination, are todays products of reality!

Here's to hoping one day (before George Lucas passes) the lightsaber in some functional form is created!

Originally posted by Jaypeth
The beauty of humanity is the ability to manifest its imaginations thru clever creations.... what ever we can imagine we can create.... it just takes time

agree exactly amazing and true statement
we have the power to create anything we imagine thru time
the possibilities we have are endless

I was going to agree that there was no way to contain it, but then i read that long post and I can't beilive i didn't think of a magnetic field. i feel so stupid.

[edit on 9-5-2009 by netrichie]

Read and weep for all you lightsaber skeptics out there!
It could be possible to use ACTUAL LIGHT in a lightsaber that doesn't use mirrors on the outside or anything!

Check it out, SOLID LIGHT! uninews.unimelb.edu.au...

If this can be done in free air or in a vacuum, it might be possible to arrange the "light crystals" in a sword shape. It even has repulsion. This technology has so many applications beyond quantum computers.

BTW: Beam katanas from "No More Heroes" are way more awesome than lightsabers.

Originally posted by Amur_Tiger
I think some are taking the "light" part of lightsabre too litterally, with light it would be vergin on the impossible with the power problem out of the way, with it, you're hooped. Using plasma though would be vaguely within the range of possability.

That is my thoughts also. A magnetic containment field would hold the plasma in place and still be able to make contact.

nope, def not possable. because how would they get the light to travel to a certin length then stop

I am a physicist who has put in some thought to this problem (I have a young son who keeps me on my toes) and I think that it could be done. The basic idea is to create a number of slighly out of phase, slightly different wavelengths, and slightly different starting points in the handle, light beams that would essentially destructively interfere at whatever distance you decided was a reasonable length for your sabre. No question that it would be a large and complex sesign process, and one certainly could question why would you want to do it (although there would be some very interesting other more practical uses for a very powerful energy beam with a well defined range), but I do think it could be done.

hay i've had an idea for about 3 years now i am 15 i have copyrighted my idea. so now i will tell you.

this light saber plan has a hiccup one it will be a plasma saber
the power sorce will be a fusion reactor (size of a credit card) contained in a eletro-magnetic bubble(the u.s. military has already built ) the power will be distributed by tesla's life work. there will be 2 generator's: a (hot) plasma generator and a eletro-magnetic bubble generator. and this will create a 1 bladed plasma saber a 2 bladed plasma saber will share the same power gen. mentioned above and have 2 set's of the other 2 gen. listed above any Q's

the way to change the length of the blade? you simply have to tone it down with the on-off button (no really the 0-1 button is a toggle switch that will make the blade longer or shorter. ok??

and you would be able to do every thing thay do in star wars




[edit on 21-10-2009 by leedad007]

Ok, how about this:

Shape and Cutting Action;
The shape of lightsaber is maintained by a series of virtual magnetic fields along the 'blade' as so:

||==|| > >>>

where the (right), and ^(up) are the directions of the magnetic field, and 'o' is the centre point of each of the virtual magnetic fields in the series.

Since the ^ and v directions of the field cancel out, the direction of the field would go completely around the 'edge' of the 'blade'.

The material that passes along the edge of the field that would provide the intense burning contact would be the fragments of a crystal (possibly the fabled crystal core of the lightsaber).

These picoscopic fragments due to their negligible mass would quickly move along the field, and provide a fine cutting edge to the field which could slice through basically anything (think of nanoparticles displacing real particles at intense speeds).

Heating and Melting;
The friction alone in this action would cause the intense heat required to melt most objects, but since the particles are mostly kinetic and not thermal, perhaps a small heater at the hilt would give thermal energy to the particles upon each lap of the cycle (the magnetic field strength would have to be increased to overcome the increased speed of the particles in order to maintain a consistently small orbital radius.)

Glow;
Ideally the magnetic field, along with giving motion to the crystal particles/fragments, would induce a small current in the crystal fragments which depending on the properties of the crystals would cause them to glow. Those particles at larger radii would have smaller currents induced and less of a glow, and those with smaller radii would have larger induced currents and a piercing glow. This idea is consistent with the fine but slightly hazy edge of the lightsaber whilst having a brilliant white centre.

The image drawn above would give only a 2d lightsaber (since the parts facing to and away from the page have no field on them), but as long the magnetic field is projected in the same way that a solenoid ('coil') is, then you would get a full-fledged lightsaber.

The only problem:
Virtual magnetic fields do exist, but they can't be setup from the same source (i.e. the hilt), they need to be formed from many different angles (maybe different angular variations FROM the hilt?).
Also, how the hell are you supposed to project a solenoid? In order to produce a field in the first place you must have a current along a wire.
What Im proposing is a means to project a current along a coil. That's basically a very very complex and narrow electric field.

I dont think this is what the Force had in mind when it comes to building a lightsaber. Obi-wan would be rolling in his grave right now if he hadn't been in those damn prequels.






[edit on 7-1-2010 by tetris11]

[edit on 7-1-2010 by tetris11]