Re: Energy Cancellation (or conversion of radiation to dark rest mass?)

AI4QJ wrote:
"Roy Lewallen" <w7el@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

Draw a diagram showing how you would get two laser beams to overlap in a straight line as you describe. Feel free to use partially reflecting mirrors, or one or two lasers. Show where all the beams go, including both the transmitted and reflected beams if you use partially reflecting mirrors. I claim that no energy will disappear, and you'll be able to account for every erg of the energy the lasers are putting out, in the form of non-canceled beams. The law of conservation of energy will be obeyed. No wave bouncing, "momentum" altering, or other imagined effects will be necessary to account for all the energy being produced by the lasers. I've been eagerly awaiting the simple diagram which will prove me wrong, but all that appears is more smoke, mirrors (figuratively only), hand waving, and the repeated posing of this and other impossible questions.

OK, that is a rational position. You are saying that the premise is incorrect, that is, all light will *not* cancel when two forward coherent light beams are superimposed 180 degrees out of phase (as happens with sound waves and shock waves).

No, I'm not. Please read my posting again. I'm saying that you cannot create those two waves without also creating waves which, together, contain the amount of energy being produced by the laser(s). You can cancel all the light you want. But you can't do it without also leaving or making enough other light to account for the energy being produced.

Given the premise is invalid, then I withdraw my question. However, I am sure I have read in some literature that indeed the premise is true; however, you win the argument because I cannot prove the premise is true and you have no incentive to prove the premise is wrong (you only need to say so, and you have). Touche'.

Huh?

I don't need to prove anything. I'm just waiting for someone to show me how he creates those co-traveling canceling waves without also creating enough other waves to account for all the energy being produced by the lasers. (I'm even perfectly willing to accept perfect mirrors, perfectly coherent, phased, and amplitude-matched lasers, and other ideal components.) Then we can take the discussion from there. C'mon, shouldn't take but a couple of minutes to sketch out the system and prove me wrong.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL
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Relevant Pages

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