Tachyons in fiction
Encyclopedia
The hypothetical particle
s tachyon
s have inspired many occurrences of tachyons in fiction.
In general, tachyons are a standby mechanism upon which many science fiction
authors rely to establish faster-than-light communication, with or without reference to causality issues. For example, in the Babylon 5
television series, tachyons are used for real-time communication over long distances. Another instance is Gregory Benford
's novel Timescape
, winner of the Nebula Award
, which involves the use of tachyons to transmit a message of salvation back in time. Likewise, John Carpenter
's horror film Prince of Darkness uses tachyons to explain how future humans send messages backward through time to warn the characters of their impending doom. By contrast, Alan Moore
's classic graphic novel
Watchmen
features a character who uses "a squall of tachyons" broadcasting from space to muddle the mind of the only person on Earth capable of seeing the future.
The word "tachyon" has become widely recognized to such an extent that it can impart a science-fictional "sound" even if the subject in question has no particular relation to superluminal travel (compare positronic brain
). Classic Anime
fans may associate tachyons with the energy source for the wave-motion gun and wave-motion engine in Space Battleship Yamato
(Starblazers in the United States). Further examples include the "Tachion Tanks" of the PC game Dark Reign and the "tachyon beam" of the game Master of Orion
. The space-combat sim Tachyon: The Fringe
utilizes "tachyon gates" for superluminal travel but gives no exact explanation for the technology, and the MMORPG
Eve Online
features six types of "Large Tachyon Lasers", technically a contradiction since by definition, laser
s emit light—photon
s, not any kind of hypothetical tachyon.
Elementary particle
In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles. If an elementary particle truly has no substructure, then it is one of the basic building blocks of the universe from which...
s tachyon
Tachyon
A tachyon is a hypothetical subatomic particle that always moves faster than light. In the language of special relativity, a tachyon would be a particle with space-like four-momentum and imaginary proper time. A tachyon would be constrained to the space-like portion of the energy-momentum graph...
s have inspired many occurrences of tachyons in fiction.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
authors rely to establish faster-than-light communication, with or without reference to causality issues. For example, in the Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
television series, tachyons are used for real-time communication over long distances. Another instance is Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
's novel Timescape
Timescape
Timescape is a 1980 novel by science fiction writer Gregory Benford . It won the 1980 Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards, and the 1981 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel...
, winner of the Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, which involves the use of tachyons to transmit a message of salvation back in time. Likewise, John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's horror film Prince of Darkness uses tachyons to explain how future humans send messages backward through time to warn the characters of their impending doom. By contrast, Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's classic graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
features a character who uses "a squall of tachyons" broadcasting from space to muddle the mind of the only person on Earth capable of seeing the future.
The word "tachyon" has become widely recognized to such an extent that it can impart a science-fictional "sound" even if the subject in question has no particular relation to superluminal travel (compare positronic brain
Positronic brain
A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Its role is to serve as a central computer for a robot, and, in some unspecified way, to provide it with a form of consciousness recognizable to humans...
). Classic Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
fans may associate tachyons with the energy source for the wave-motion gun and wave-motion engine in Space Battleship Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series featuring an eponymous spacecraft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato; an English-dubbed and heavily edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television as Star Blazers...
(Starblazers in the United States). Further examples include the "Tachion Tanks" of the PC game Dark Reign and the "tachyon beam" of the game Master of Orion
Master of Orion
Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction computer strategy game released in 1993 by MicroProse on the MS-DOS and Mac OS operating systems. The purpose of the game is to lead one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing...
. The space-combat sim Tachyon: The Fringe
Tachyon: The Fringe
Tachyon: The Fringe is a computer game developed and published in 2000 by the company Novalogic. It features the voice acting of Bruce Campbell as main character Jake Logan in a 3-D space simulator...
utilizes "tachyon gates" for superluminal travel but gives no exact explanation for the technology, and the MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Eve Online
EVE Online
Eve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...
features six types of "Large Tachyon Lasers", technically a contradiction since by definition, laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
s emit light—photon
Photon
In physics, a photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It is also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force...
s, not any kind of hypothetical tachyon.
Comics
- The X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
character Silver SamuraiSilver SamuraiThe Silver Samurai is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe, occasionally a superhero and more often a supervillain. His first appearance was in Daredevil #111...
has the power to generate a tachyon field which can cut through everything but adamantium by channeling his mutant energy into anything, usually his katanaKatanaA Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
.
- In the DC UniverseDC UniverseThe DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, Tachyons are used by both HourmanHourmanHourman is the name of three different fictional DC Comics superheroes, the first of whom was created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily in Adventure Comics #48 , during the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Rex Tyler:Scientist Rex Tyler, raised in upstate...
II and III.
- In the graphic novel WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
, Dr. Manhattan's ability to see into the future is blocked by tachyons generated by Adrian Veidt.
Film
- In Land of the LostLand of the Lost (film)Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...
(2009), Will FerrellWill FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
stars as Dr. Rick Marshall, who invented the "Tachyon Amplifier" that can supposedly boost a strong signal of Tachyon energy into a time warp that will lead to a universal lost and found, a virtual "Land of the Lost".
Literature
- In Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
' HyperionHyperion CantosThe Hyperion Cantos is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category...
universe, a faster-than-light communication medium, the "fatline", is used for starships and planets to send high-priority messages to each other without suffering months or years' delay for normal radio transmission. The fatline messages can be intercepted and decoded by fatline receivers, and the message is described in Hyperion as a "burst of decaying tachyons."
- Robert J. SawyerRobert J. SawyerRobert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...
's novel Flashforward features the invention of a Tachyon-Tardyon Collider, allowing experiments which previously required large particle accelerators to be performed in a machine about the size of a microwave. Additionally, a space probe is launched with a tachyon transmitter, allowing it to send information to Earth at faster-than-lightFaster-than-lightFaster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
speeds.
- In Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's "Johnny MaxwellJohnny MaxwellJohnny Maxwell is a fictional character in a series of three children's books by Terry Pratchett. He is a young boy living in the typical late-20th-century English town of Blackbury .Johnny has a difficult home life...
" trilogy of children's books, the time-travelling bag-lady is called "Mrs. Tachyon."
- In the Wild CardsWild CardsWild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together and edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin with assistance by Melinda Snodgrass, also a...
book series, the character Dr. TachyonDr. TachyonDr. Tachyon is a character from the Wild Cards series of books. He was created for the books by Melinda M. Snodgrass. Tachyon is a geneticist from the planet Takis, whose people naturally developed various telepathic powers...
is so named because of the way in which his bioshipBioshipA bioship is a type of spacecraft or starship described in science fiction. Bioships differ from other types of spacecraft in that they are composed, either predominantly or totally, of biological components, rather than being constructed from manufactured materials...
flies faster than light, and because his own alien name is impractically long and difficult to pronounce.
Television
- In the Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
fictional universeFictional universeA fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, tachyons are among the fictitious or hypothetical particles frequently invoked in treknobabbleTreknobabbleTreknobabble is a portmanteau of "Star Trek" and "technobabble". It is used humorously by fans of the various Star Trek television series, and disparagingly by its critics, to describe the infamous amount of pseudoscientific gibberish packed into many episodes.Writers on The Next Generation and...
, often as a deus ex machinaDeus ex machinaA deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
used to maintain the plot. Tachyons are frequently invoked to explain some aspect of the RomulanRomulanThe Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
cloaking deviceCloaking deviceCloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
. In the film Star Trek: InsurrectionStar Trek: InsurrectionStar Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, written by Michael Piller , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third to feature the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
, ships fire "tachyon pulses" at one another, disrupting the targets' "shield harmonics" and thereby allowing transportTransporter (Star Trek)A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...
through the shields. Finally, in the third season Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
episode "Explorers", a tachyon stream was used as an (accidental) means to propel an ancient sailSolar sailSolar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
ing ship to warp speed. Tachyons are also often mentioned throughout each series when a plot contains references to time travelTime travelTime travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
or time manipulation. In the final episode of Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
tachyons which were released cause a space-time fissure that threatens to destroy all life on Earth (along with the rest of the galaxy) in the distant past.
- The Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
-era Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story "The Leisure HiveThe Leisure HiveThe Leisure Hive is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 August to 20 September 1980.-Plot:...
" features a race called the Argolins who utilise tachyons for a cloning-like procedure and for "illusions" as such. The Argolin Pangol explains, "Tachyons travel faster than light. A tachyon field can therefore be made to reach point B – that visidome, say – before its departure from point A, the Generator." RomanaRomanaRomana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
says that the Time LordTime LordThe Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s "abandoned tachyonics when we developed warp matrix engineering".
- In the series pilot of Eureka, scientist Walter Perkins creates a "tachyon accelerator", activates it, and as a result the laws of physics and the fabric of space-time itself begin to unravel. This is apparently due to a "tachyon collision" created by the machine. The effects are stopped by creating a second collision to counteract the first.
- In the NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series JourneymanJourneyman (TV series)Journeyman is a 2007 American science fiction television drama created by Kevin Falls for 20th Century Fox Television which aired on the NBC television network. It starred Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasser, a San Francisco reporter who involuntarily travels through time...
, tachyons have been mentioned as a theory, possibly explaining the mysterious trips through time experienced by Dan VasserDan VasserDaniel "Dan" Vasser is a fictional character on the critically acclaimed American drama Journeyman. He is played by Scottish actor Kevin McKidd.Vasser is the main protagonist of the series, who begins to time travel, unable to stop or control the jumps...
.
Video Games
- In the PC Game Tachyon: The FringeTachyon: The FringeTachyon: The Fringe is a computer game developed and published in 2000 by the company Novalogic. It features the voice acting of Bruce Campbell as main character Jake Logan in a 3-D space simulator...
, humanity has learned to harness the particle to create gates that allow faster-than-light travel within and between solar systems.
- In Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the main antagonist is Emperor Percival Tachyon.
- In the PC Pinball Timeshock!Pro Pinball: Timeshock!Timeshock! is a 1997 pinball computer game developed by Cunning Development and published by Empire Interactive. It is the second game in the Pro Pinball series, and is themed around the concept of time travel.- Theme and objectives :...
, the game's main story focuses on finding pieces of Tachyonium through the time.
Other
- Tachyon is a character in the Lonelygirl15Lonelygirl15lonelygirl15 was an interactive web-based video series which began in June 2006 and ran through to August 1, 2008. Developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove, the show gained worldwide media attention when it was outed as fictional in September 2006.-Overview:lonelygirl15...
related OpAphid alternate reality gameAlternate reality gameAn alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
. She is a spySPYSPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
working for a secret organisation in opposition to OpAphid's activities.
See also
- A chroniton is a fictional elementary particle with time-travel properties in some works of science fiction.