The adventures of the rocketeer: accelerated motion under the influence of expanding space

J. Kwan; G. F. Lewis; John Berian James

doi:10.1071/AS09050

The adventures of the rocketeer: accelerated motion under the influence of expanding space

J. Kwan, G. F. Lewis, John Berian James

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is well known that interstellar travel is bounded by the finite speed of light, but on very large scales any rocketeer would also need to consider the influence of cosmological expansion on their journey. This paper examines accelerated journeys within the framework of Friedmann-Lemâtre-Robertson- Walker universes, illustrating how the duration of a fixed acceleration sharply divides exploration over interstellar and intergalactic distances. Furthermore, we show how the universal expansion increases the difficulty of intergalactic navigation, with small uncertainties in cosmological parameters resulting in significantly large deviations. This paper also shows that, contrary to simplistic ideas, the motion of any rocketeer is indistinguishable from Newtonian gravity if the acceleration is kept small.

Original language	English
Journal	Publications Astronomical Society of Australia
Volume	27
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	15-22
Number of pages	7
ISSN	1323-3580
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1071/AS09050
Publication status	Published - 10 Mar 2010

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abstract = "It is well known that interstellar travel is bounded by the finite speed of light, but on very large scales any rocketeer would also need to consider the influence of cosmological expansion on their journey. This paper examines accelerated journeys within the framework of Friedmann-Lem{\^a}tre-Robertson- Walker universes, illustrating how the duration of a fixed acceleration sharply divides exploration over interstellar and intergalactic distances. Furthermore, we show how the universal expansion increases the difficulty of intergalactic navigation, with small uncertainties in cosmological parameters resulting in significantly large deviations. This paper also shows that, contrary to simplistic ideas, the motion of any rocketeer is indistinguishable from Newtonian gravity if the acceleration is kept small.",

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The adventures of the rocketeer: accelerated motion under the influence of expanding space

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