#I could rant all day on the issues with science in shows like supergirl

[thatonebirdwrites]

Bird Rants: Portals and Stuff

In the Supergirl show, the transmatter portal is described as working via polyatomic anions. No, just no, that's nonsensical. It sounds like gibberish, and it bothers me to no end. There's a better way to describe how it works that's way more fun.

So hear me out, okay? I got a physics degree, and I did a bit on research on how such a portal could work based on how the show describes it. (disclaimer: I simplified things a little bit for this explanation).

First: the show claims the portals are set up via locations. As in the person had to visit both locations to "program" that location into it.

Second: it looks like the opening of a wormhole.

This leads me to believe the portals actually work via quantum entanglement and wormholes that utilize negative energy. So, particles on a quantum level are weird. They tend to exist in all states at once until measured, but at the moment of our measurement, the particle collapses into a specific state. This is the foundation of a lot of quantum mechanics and many of the weirdness such as entanglement. Another important property is the uncertainty principle, where we can't measure all properties exactly. For example, if we measure the velocity of the particle, the location measurement will be smeared out and inexact. And vice versa. (Seriously, quantum world is weird, and I absolutely love it).

Uncertainty principle is the basics of vacuum energy within spacetime (a.k.a. space). It plays a big role in stabilizing a wormhole for travel.

Now, this smearing out of the particles allows for some weird shit like entanglement!

Meaning, we can entangle particles so that they are basically married/connected. For example, if one entangled particle has an Up Spin, then its buddy will always be the opposite - Down Spin. (Fun side note, the distance between them doesn't matter. It's a nonlocal connection. if we measure the one particle as up, the other - even if its thousands of lightyears away - will always be the opposite).

Knowing that, we can look at the portals. Per the first claim, two locations are programed into the portal device. That likely means the locations are entangled on a particle level. So how to pass through to the other location? Create a miniature wormhole and use energy to expand it into a person-sized portal. The entangled particles at both end would hold the ends of the wormhole in place, but in order to stabilize the wormhole for travel, the device must provide enough negative energy to allow passage. (See my side notes below as to what negative energy is).

The type of particles doesn't matter (all matter is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons anyway. And protons and neutrons are made up of quarks). Therefore, it also does not matter what the molecule is (for example, polyatomic ions are two or more atoms in a covalent bond that act as one unit. That describes most matter actually. But even single atoms would work). This is because quantum entanglement doesn't happen on the atom level but the particle level. As in the ingredients for an atom.

Therefore, transmatter portals in Supergirl actually work via quantum entanglement and wormholes, which are stabilized using negative energy. Important side notes:

Wormholes were predicted by Einstein's general relativity theory. They connect two points in spacetime (but can also connect two separate universes for those that theorize the existence of the multiverse). Wormholes can form on a quantum level -- for example the particle accelerator CERN in Switzerland has detected miniature black holes that last a few microseconds before vanishing. Wormholes can last about as long. However in order to get wormholes to the size of a human being, a LOT of energy would be needed. Kip Thorne, a physicist, calculated out a way to artificially create one, and one method involves the making a microscopic wormhole. Then utilize negative energy to expand that and hold it open. What is negative energy though?

This is the fun part. Spacetime has been theorized (and some testing has proved this) to be a curved surface full of a frothing sea of particles that pop in and out of existence (as in matter and antimatter particles colliding to annihilate one another). This is called vacuum energy.

Now, this is where quantum mechanics comes into play! Quantum field theory through the Casimir effect could essentially create a region of negative energy. That negative energy could in turn be harnessed to hold open a wormhole as postulated by several physicists such as Stephen Hawking, Kip Thorne, and Brian Greene. Having said that, what is Casimir effect then?

That one deals with the vacuum energy I just described above and how it interacts with materials in a confined space. The materials (commonly electrical conductors and dielectrics) alter the vacuum energy fields, which in turn creates a force between the materials.

...

Yes, I spent way too much time coming up with a more plausible theory on how these portals work. Uh, you're welcome.

#supergirl #supergirl cw #supercorp #the science in supergirl is so nonsensical sometimes and I just wanna FIX IT #quantum entanglement IS SO COOL #Why not use the cool quantum mechanics stuff instead of random science-sounding-gibberish? #I could rant all day on the issues with science in shows like supergirl #Bird Rants