On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 12:43 PM, Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com> wrote:
Just to point something out -- the EM drive *obviously* doesn't need to be > outside the craft to work, since it doesn't eject mass. > > Furthermore (and consequently), it violates conservation of momentum, > conservation of angular momentum, conservation of energy, and conservation > of mass. While data trumps theory, this doesn't seem like the most likely > explanation of the effect to me. > I feel like many in the scientific community following this development have gone from the observation that no observable mass is being ejected to the conclusion that no matter is being ejected, and that therefore there is a lack of conservation of momentum. This feels like a non sequitur to me and that other possibilities must first be ruled out. One possibility is that the EM Drive may be ejecting mass, not in the form of baryons, but in the form of leptons, namely, neutrinos: * 32Si → 32P + β− + ν + 13 MeV The reaction above is a beta decay; electron capture is another possibility. I don't propose this specific decay, but I mention it to make a point. Those neutrinos, although close to massless, will be carrying a lot of momentum. There are difficulties with this explanation, but not so much as to preclude an investigation into the possibility. Eric
