Back in Focus Focus Focus I discussed how the aperture size and frequency of a laser affects the range it is effective as a weapon.
The math that governs that is inflexible and clear.
Something about the rules as written is a set of lasers that gets increased range without increasing the size of the weapon or changing the frequency.
Since the size of the aperture is limited to about a meter by the scale of the turrets, how can you extend the range without increasing the size of the lens?
One avenue is to assume that at TL10-11 it becomes possible to create a phased array laser in the x-ray bands.
Another, given Traveller's insane control and manipulation of gravity could be to use gravity lensing to compress the aperture physically while making it effectively larger.
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Well, gravity lenses have been postulated by several sci-fi authors, so that might work.
ReplyDeleteOr Traveller assumes some quantive jump in laser efficiency and control in the beam generating thingamabob using some advanced handwavium material. (Which, watching the laser efficiency jump in leaps and bounds over the last 40 years, may not be so impossible.)
Efficiency is not a factor with what I'm talking about. Efficiency is a comparison of output to input.
DeleteThis is how much the beam spreads. I saved a link with the math and that's a dead page now.
What the math tells us is how big the spot is at the target. Three things make that spot smaller, getting closer, changing the frequency to shorter wavelengths and increasing the aperture size.
Light spreads no matter what you do... Phased arrays and gravitic lenses are put forth as means to increase the effective aperture size without likewise increasing the physical aperture size.