Whatever Happened to Burkhard Heim

I was recently looking around the web for anything of interest. I've always been interested in alternative propulsion methods in the realms of space travel... something that has a little more flair and finesse than a bunch of hot gases blasted out of the rear of a rocket. You would have thought by now that we would have come up with something a little neater, a little quieter, and indeed something slightly cheaper and less dangerous.

Anyhow, whilst on the lookout I cam across an old New Scientise article entitled, "Take a Leap into HyperSpace." You can check it out here:

Take a Leap into Hyperspace

Effectively the whole idea here was to design an experiment that would prove Heim's theories which bring together both quantum physical theories and Einstein's Theory of Relativity through the introduction and association of additional dimensions... six in total. Whilst many would dismiss such a theory the thing that keeps it hanging on is the fact that his theory has been able to predict, with relative accuracy, the mass of quantum particles... something that modern physics has not been able to easily accomplish. This in itself is something worthy of note.

Anyhow, the article outlines how an experiment could be performed to demonstrate how gravity can be manipulated through the generation of intense magnetic fields. Unfortunately the experiment has not yet been carried out as many physicists cannot quite understand the mathematics behind the theory.

My question is, has anyone heard anything about this since the article was written? The article was written in January 2006. Surely things have moved on since then?

Many Regards,

Tytanius.

Hi Tytanius,

Yeah, I’ve recently been wondering about Heim’s conception of physics. I learned of his endeavours in 2006, but since then I haven’t happened across anything else about his work.

As you’ve implied, Heim’s mathematics is regarded as dense and complex. Perhaps his genius is difficult for other, less imaginative scientists to access, much less comprehend. Or, perhaps, his calculations and the conclusions he reached from them were inherently flawed and erroneous.

Interestingly, the link I’ve included suggests that a segment of Heim’s theory was able to accurately calculate the ground state masses of various elementary particles. Critics of Heim’s work, however, claimed that the test lacked rigour. Accordingly, Heim, or proponents of his work, could not substantiate any conclusions about his theories on the basis of this test.

The method of propulsion that he posits is certainly hard to imagine. As I understand it – and correct me if I’m wrong – any vehicle utilizing his mode of propulsion would remain, or at least appear to remain, in the same spatial coordinates but would simultaneously travel to its destination via a higher dimension. On completion of its journey through the higher dimension in which it travelled, the craft would concurrently disappear at the point of departure only to instantly reappear at new spatial coordinates, namely the point of arrival.

Very interesting fellow was our Burkhard. Although I'm not too sure if I'd use his engine myself. Does Event Horizon mean anything to you?

Thanks

Outline of Heim's work

The calculation


US Government's interest in the technology



[edit on 15/10/08 by The Quiet Earth]

reply to post by The Quiet Earth


Hi there, Heim's theories are certainly very interesting, although elements of his thinking seem to have filtered into other scientists work. There must be a connection between gravity, electricity and magnetism and at the moment it seems that one theory is almost as good as another as none seem to describe the linkage in terms that would result in a successful experiment.

In terms of Event Horizon, I have to admit that's one film I haven't watched but keep meaning to. However, in real terms the Event Horizon is the boundary of "no-return" as you enter the sphere of influence of a black hole; the point from which light itself cannot escape and where time begins to stretch out to infinity. Weird.

Anyhow, I'll take a look at the links you have provided and get back to you if I find anything further.

Many Regards,

Tytanius