Lightsaber - Is it possible?

[nikokapo]

k, i know this has been discussed, but it has never been properly discussed.....

this should be a thread where physics ruled


is it actually possible to make a lightsaber LIKE IN STAR WARS (not a false lightsaber, you know what i'm talking about)
however, i aim to discuss about the possibility of making a visible lightsaber in a way that you dont need the laser itself to CUT, just to be wide and be seen like that...(1meter long & stuff)



hope you got me

let the discussing begin

 

[VW]

Only option I see, in my uneducated state, would be to use some kind of optics to intensify the beam so that's it's full length and width are reduced to a "light sabre" type size.  Eg, 1W laser's 100 mile length reduced to 1 meter would create an incredibly hot and powerful beam.  Of course, people will be coming in with far more valuable opinions than be, but right now that's the only option I see... I just wish there were such optics that could do that...

 

[MarioMaster]

you'd have to have some way of "stopping" the light so it doesn't just go on forever - and a power source since as we all know electricity doesn't just come out of a rock

 

[xJumper]

I was going to say the same but also how do you expect not to blind yourself and/or the people around you, and unlike the movies you wont me blocking bullets with it, they will probably just go into the beam and then liquifie from the heat and then you will have a burning piece of liquid lead on your face.


Next if we had the technologies to make one I would pick up a laser rifle before I touch one of those things and I would expect it to be very noisy from the "electrical hum" that you usually hear next to high voltage current and that totally defeats the silent aspect of having a hand to hand combat weapon because in real life the knife is still the best weapon to kill people silently.

Next laser weapons would easily be countered because all you need is something like a mirror for armor and everybody has one of those, unlike the level 4 body armor you need to wear to stop rifle rounds.


Possible? Yes.

Useful? No.

Only a fantasy for Star Wars fans.

 

[VW]

Personally i'd rather see some kind of laser projectile, I would find that far more facinating that a light sabre...

 

[lazerguy]

I some time ago read about a "plasma saber". You would not use laser light, you would heat up plasma to a very high temperature, and use some sort of magnetic fields to power up/down the blade. It would look exactly like in the movies, but it could not be bulit into a small handle. with the current thechnology, the "handle" would look more like a tank or something.
I found the link to my source of information:http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm there are also information about superlasers, what power a laser would need to blast a planet etc.

 

[nikokapo]

dont worry about current technologies, dont think of it as a portable 5mw greenie


we'd have to talk about a big lens to make the beam bigger. then, is there any way to STOP light from going further (without adding something at the end, duh, we dont want any stick at one meter from the hilt).

lzguy, that doesnt provide a solid beam, does it?

@VW, me too, but a short range sword would be the coolest

 

[roSSco]

Generate a force field 3' from the handle to stop the beam. If it's powerful enough to generate a laser that strong, it should be able to do the force field w/o any trouble.

 

[lazerguy]

lzguy, that doesnt provide a solid beam, does it?

Well, I think it does, but I am not sure since I am not an expert on lightsabers. ;D

 

[tatman]

If you guys make a laser powerful enough to blow up a planet I am going to get so mad. EVERYBODY is going to just NEED one

 

[Lorgar]

Next laser weapons would easily be countered because all you need is something like a mirror for armor and everybody has one of those, unlike the level 4 body armor you need to wear to stop rifle rounds.

Unfortunatly mirrors dont stop things like a co2 laser they just go right through it

I would think a light saber would be more of a magneticaly jacketed plasma than a laser. with a special crystal to focus it into a beam and a magnetic field to keep the length and diameter

 

[nikokapo]

but how can plasma be controlled to just produce a FAT beam of 1 or 1,5 meters?

 

[Schrecken_Licht]

Another fallacy about mirrors reflecting laser beams is that to thwart a battle field grade laser (according to the US military 100kw is the minimum power required for use as a laser weapon) you would need a highly polished, near-perfect reflective surface + you would also have to keep that surface perfectly clean and free of dirt and dust. You're talking something like a telescope mirror - but who could/would spare the cost for most military vehicles and personnel?

When I worked in a laser machine shop the mirrors they had there were liquid-cooled + everyone always fretted about dust contamination - and these lasers were only a few kilowatts!

Lasers used to attempt to blind people or equipment (visible or near-IR) could easily be foiled by reflective surfaces, but not multi-kilowatt or megawatt lasers.

As for the light saber, I always thought the beam would be more like a plasma or electron beam rather than a laser. I've never heard any lasers make that buzzing noise - as we all know lasers are silent save for fans and coolant pumps. Also - if you move two laser beams thru each other they simply pass thru - no noisy collisions as in Starwars. That would suggest some sort of magnetic repulsion.

 

[nikokapo]

Another fallacy about mirrors reflecting laser beams is that to thwart a battle field grade laser (according to the US military 100kw is the minimum power required for use as a laser weapon) you would need a highly polished, near-perfect reflective surface + you would also have to keep that surface perfectly clean and free of dirt and dust.  You're talking something like a telescope mirror - but who could/would spare the cost for most military vehicles and personnel?

When I worked in a laser machine shop the mirrors they had there were liquid-cooled + everyone always fretted about dust contamination - and these lasers were only a few kilowatts!

Lasers used to attempt to blind people or equipment (visible or near-IR) could easily be foiled by reflective surfaces, but not multi-kilowatt or megawatt lasers.

As for the light saber, I always thought the beam would be more like a plasma or electron beam rather than a laser.  I've never heard any lasers make that buzzing noise - as we all know lasers are silent save for fans and coolant pumps.  Also - if you move two laser beams thru each other they simply pass thru - no noisy collisions as in Starwars.  That would suggest some sort of magnetic repulsion.

cool.

again: it doesnt need to cut

OR make those awesome sounds..

yup, they wouldn't collide..


i'm trying to discuss about the possibility of just the light controlled saber.



oh...and i think it'd be good if we didnt just stay with lasers, it can be anything that fulfills the purpose

 

[current_affairs]

Generate a force field 3' from the handle to stop the beam. If it's powerful enough to generate a laser that strong, it should be able to do the force field w/o any trouble.

I think it's definitely possible to make a "light saber". I don't think the blade would be made out of light though per say. If you had a "laser beam" of light that was stopped by a "force field" and suspended 3' feet from the handle you wouldn't be able to see the beam. It might be possible to get a beam of some kind or maybe an ionized plasma to oscillate back and forth and get some kind of standing wave or loopback or something. Or maybe if we were able to harness gravitons or gravity waves in some new way. I guess the point is it would just be way too dangerous to handle what with the swath of radiation that it would emit and of course the power to slash and burn anything it touches intentionally or accidentally. They would just be outlawed instantly I think.

 

[Switch]

It could have a long stick with a mirror on the other end that would help in visibility a LOR and would stop the beam.....but yeah.... : Or you could have a fat beam and some kind of hot steam spewing out of the end so about 1m of the beam was visible When they made starwars they went way too sci-fi and disregarded physics, and it makes it pretty hard.