Problem-Solution Analysis of Superluminal Communication: The Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator Matthew Beattie HU - 338: Traversing the Borders, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL September 22, 2014 Abstract Science fiction often encounters scientific problems from the real world. Since science fiction writers are free to deal with these problems outside of the boundaries of real science, they often do. For instance, in the novel Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card creates several devices that solve problems the characters face that to go around the scientific limits of humanity. One of these, the Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator, is a device that while currently unfeasible, may be possible with major scientific advancements using real world science. 1 Introduction In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, the characters must overcome the difficulty of communicating with one another over vast expanses of space. The novel is set in a futuristic world where the human race is at war with an alien civilization called the Formic race, or the buggers. There have been two invasions by these insect-like creatures that have wreaked havoc on society. The International Fleet, one of the last reputable government forces in the world, is leading a third invasion to defeat the buggers for good. This time, instead of waiting for the buggers to attack the Earth, the I.F. is taking the fight to the buggers. Their home planet is across the galaxy from our solar system, which means the spaceships will have to communicate over vast expanses of space. Card invents new physics to solve his problem, which is a common and necessary practice of science fiction writers. It’s part of what makes science fiction fiction. The problem that Card solves with his new science, called Philotic Physics, is in fact also a limitation of the real universe. We can not travel or communicate instantaneously, let alone faster than the speed of light. The closest we have come is at the speed of light through lasers and radio waves. This paper will investigate the problem that light-speed communication imposes on space exploration both in science fiction and science fact. Several other science fiction authors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, have used these devices to solve problems in their own fictional universes. There are several potential real world solutions to this problem, including particles currently being studied using the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, and some ideas that some really smart physicists have about the way the universe might work. Before we get to all of that, let’s start by looking at the Ansible. 2 History of the Ansible The Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator was one of the crucial elements that aided the Interna- tional Fleet in the Third Invasion. The device was reverse engineered from a Formic device that served to distinguish the philotic signals from different Formic queens to her workers. This was discovered by the I.F. 1 after the second invasion, when Mazer Rackam defeated the buggers by destroying the Queen’s ship. At the instant that Rackam executed his attack, the entire Formic invasion fleet went silent. It was this instantaneous shut down that caused the I.F. to believe that the buggers could communicate over vast expanses of space instantaneously. During the aftermath of the Second Invasion, the enemy ships were searched and studied, and the Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator was built. [1] Card’s book never explicitly states how this communicator is built. There is mention of philotic physics that are involved. The buggers proved that superluminal communication was in fact possible. However, it is unclear whether the device is reverse engineered from a device found on the Formic ships, or developed by I.F. scientists with no outside influence from the buggers. What is clear, however, is that Orson Scott Card was not the first person to invent this device. The Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator, also known as the ansible, can be traced back to the year 1966, and the author Ursula K. Le Guin.[2] The first book in the Hainish Trilogy, Rocannon’s World, is where a similar superluminal communication device is found. This device is one that can communicate instantaneously over vast expanses of space. [3] In Le Guin’s book, The Left Hand of Darkness, the device is described as one that, “doesn’t involve radio waves, or any form of energy. The principle it works on, the constant of simultaneity, is analogous in some ways to gravity ... One point has to be fixed, on a planet of certain mass, but the other end is portable.”. [4] Her devices are slightly different from the ones used by Card in that Le Guin’s communicators transmit text messages, not audio. Despite the differences between the device invented by Le Guin, and the one used by Card, there are two main similarities. The first is the basic function of the device. It is a superluminal communicator, invented to solve the problem of communication limited by the speed of light in worlds where communication is required across solar systems, or even galaxies. The second is the device’s name. The word ‘ansible’ is actually Le Guin’s creation. Her device was so popular in science fiction that it was used by many authors, not so much out of lack of creativity, but rather as homage to one of science fiction’s greatest authors. A quick search of the nets will leave you with two possibilities for her inspiration. Either, it is meant to sound like the word ‘answerable’, or, it is an anagram of the word ‘lesbian’. Any further details could not be found, but several sources pointed to these two possibilities. Card’s work is the most notable use of an ansible outside of Le Guin’s. In fact, in Ender’s Game, he alludes to the fact that he is only borrowing the Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator’s nick name. “ ‘The official name is the Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator, but somebody dredged the name ansible out of an old book somewhere and it caught on.’”. [1] This excerpt from Card’s book is in fact, a bit of non-fiction, if the somebody is Orson Scott Card, and the old book is Le Guin’s Rocannon’s World. Instantaneous communicators have been a part of science fiction for many years. They have been used by many writers to overcome the time lag when writing scenarios that involve intergalactic (or interplanetary, or interstellar, or inter-just-about-any-other-astronomical-body-you-can-think-of) communication. There is only one real problem with the solution whose name was invented by Le Guin, and whose physics were refined by Card. It can’t possibly exist. 3 The Limiting Nature of Communication Since the beginning of recorded history, the development of the human race has been limited by methods of communication. It is a fundamental idea in anthropology that knowledge, like genetics, must be successfully passed down from parent to child for a race to succeed. This has to be done through whatever means of communication is available. There are several distinct revolutions in communication, starting from the very first communications among humans. As written in Terance Moran’s book, Introduction to the History of Communication, these are the following. [5] 1. Basic Human Communication - The ability to speak and communicate by drawing visual symbolic representations of the real world 2 2. Literacy - Writing and reading complex languages, which facilitated much of the learning that set the foundations for the human race 3. Typography - Printing many copies of a text, efficiently, and abundantly 4. Advanced Graphics - Photography and cinematography that revolutionized communication through images 5. Electricity - Advances in technology that gave way to the mass media of the 20th century 6. Cybernetics - The ability to communicate digitally due to advances in digital technology Moran’s list is mostly complete. At the time of his publication, in the 21st century, it is complete. How- ever, with the advances in space technologies that are found in Ender’s Game, there is another revolution in communication that is necessary: communication across outer space. As a race, humans have come a long way in communicating to each other on Earth. We have gone from drawings on cave walls and stories told around a fire, to mobile phones which can be used to talk to other people anywhere in the world. Languages have developed from very simplistic grunts to intricate dialects, like English, which is so complex, it goes beyond the understanding of its average native speaker. Despite these advances, communication is still one of humanity’s limiting factors. It is still necessary to speak or write things down to communicate between two individuals. Humans do not have the ability to think to each other. Each method of communication outlined above places limitations on the human race. Most of these limi- tations are specific to each method. For instance, the basic human communication category was limited by the lack of adequate language to develop ideas and philosophies. The cybernetics category is limited by the capabilities of digital devices, and how efficiently humans can use them. [5] There is one limiting factor that spans all of these categories, and that is time. A message takes time to be delivered from one individual to another. That time may be simply the time it takes one person to say what he or she is thinking, or it can be the time it takes a text or audio message to be transmitted from one location to another. This is a limiting factor when two human beings are attempting communication on the same planet.