Here's my Theory on Slipspace

If you actually think about it, you will see how annoyingly contradictory the idea of slipspace is. It must be something to do with having multiple writers with different internal concepts on what exactly it is.

Slipstream space is an alternate spacetime which is underlaid on the conventional three-dimensional universe ("normal space"). Relative distances are several orders of magnitude shorter in slipspace, and every point corresponds to a point in normal space.

In normal space, the shortest route between two points is a straight line, with a variety of longer routes possible (such as travelling to a third point before making for the final destination). This principle still valid in slipspace, but is magnified due to the presence of additional dimensions which multiply the number of possible paths. The shortest route is still a straight line, but a hyperdimensional straight line is shorter than a three-dimensional straight line.

This interpretation is supported Fhajad's physics paper, which states that the space-curving effect exhibited by mass (gravity, to the layperson) is magnified considerably in slipspace. This is a side effect of the shortening of relative distances due to hyperdimensionality.

The Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine uses microscopic singularities generates a resonance field (or "rift") which allows a mass in normal space to temporarily "fall" down into slipspace. The resonance field must be active for a craft to remain in slipspace. If it is disabled, the mass fill bounce back up into normal space. The same applies if part of the mass travels outside the field. Conventional reaction thrusters are used to get around in slipspace.

This is why the Covenant dropship was able to return to normal space simply by leaving the proximety of the Ascendant Justice, and explains why the UNSC Dusk was able to piggyback on the slipspace "wake" of a Covenant spacecraft.

The many dimensions of slipspace are inconcievable by a mass designed to exist in only three dimensions. An object travelling between two points may take exactly one month, but may take twice that time if repeated. This is because the object unknowingly takes a different hyperdimensional path the second time, but cannot tell due to not natively existing in slipspace.

This leads to an odd chronodynamic flexibility for objects travelling in slipspace, similar to Einsteinian time dilation but far less predictable and caused by non-relativistic physics.

The very notion of slipspace can be contradictory. Some would say it is another universe altogether, but this does not account for the fact that it can be topologically associated with our own (i.e. a point in slipspace generally corresponds to a point in normal space, which would not occur in truly alternate universes). Others say that it is simply the hidden dimensions of our own universe. However, this opinion is also flawed.

Conventional physics do not allow multiple "planes" of dimensions to exist in the same universe. If this opinion was correct, neither normal space nor slipspace would exist; both would be intertwined with each other and would be a single topologically and causally-connected hyperdimensional spacetime. Seven-dimensional slipspace could not coexist with three-dimensional normal space, there would only be a single ten-dimensional universe.

Theoretical physicists currently hypothesise that slipspace is a "middle ground" between the two views. Slipspace is part of our own universe, but is an alternate Lorentzian manifold (simply-connected structure containing space+time dimensions). Before slipspace's discovery, it was thought that each universe could only possess a single manifold, but it is now known to have two. The possibility of additional manifolds is possible, but unlikely.


86.154.76.113 16:59, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Explosion?

In Halo 2 (maybe other places too) when the Covenant ship jumped into slipspace while in New Mombassa, it created a huge explosion, destroying the city and unearthing the Ark. Does this happen often? Why isn't anything about the explosions listed here? Salty 02:11, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Probably because we never observed a jump inside a planet's atmosphere before. I don't think it happens elsewhere, but then I haven't read the books in a while. --Dragonclaws 05:07, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

it doesnt mention explosions in the books so far -Climax Viod 19:55, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't mention explosions, but it does mention that if you jump to slipspace in an atmosphere, it tears up the planet close to you -- Lorddarkrevan 11:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

regrets carrier causes a huge explosion at the begining of halo3odst but at the end of the game multiple ships jump to earth IN EARTHS ATMOSPHERE and there are no huge explosions, how is this?

They're coming out of it in the atmosphere, not going into it. --Joem25 19:37, September 27, 2009 (UTC)
-It may be that generating a Slip-space field while in atmosphere draws surrounding items into the field (as shown in Halo 2 when the Covenant Carrier with In Ambler Clad showed up near delta halo with buildings nearby, and as shown in First Strike when Cortana initiated a Slip-Space field while in the atmosphere of Threshold, which drew it's gasses into the field.) but exiting a Slip-Space field while in atmosphere does nothing since you are merely "dropping" back into real space, and removing the field from around your ship. We don't see this sucking effect in space since there is nothing to draw into the field. --KickButtUnggoy 19:45, September 27, 2009 (UTC)
Exactly. It takes a pretty forceful way to open it, covenant or unsc. And complications arise when done in a planet's atmosphere. When entering splipspace in an atmosphere, it causes an explosion. When exiting slipspace, no problems. XRoadToDawnX 19:45, September 27, 2009 (UTC)

Physics

It is called an over pressurization wave and is likely caused by the micro black holes compressing the atmosphere and releasing it almost instently. the bright light is likely from the Hawking radiation riding the edge of the wave. Galacticdominator 13:46, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry boys. I have to correct you there. It is mentioned in the books. And I can tell you why there is an explosion. In Halo: First Strike, Master Chief and Cortana, along with Sargeant Avery Johnson and other UNSC personell, commandeer the covenant ship Ascendant-Justice. They are attacked and are caught in the gravity force of the gas giant Threshold. Cortana uses the much more 'finely tuned' slipspace mechanics engineered by the covenant to break a slipspace tear in orbit, the vectors in line with the gravitational pull as another portion of the equation used to establish the correct slipspace tear. This information was leaked to the covenant by the onboard AI before Cortana could tear it code by code. UNSC ships cannot perform and in atmosphere jump because of the different way of enterring slipspace used by UNSC Shaw Fujikawa drives in ships. While the SF drives plow their way into slipspace, covenant ships slip into it seamlessly. Think of it like a chainsaw, compared to a scalpal, for cutting through a piece of paper.

Why there is an explosion? I do have a theory, or two. 1) [Which I slightly doubt more than the other] Slipspace jumps are evaporated via Hawking radiation by UNSC ships and a similiar method by Covenant ships, I beleive. So, since the jump was so sudden and on Earth, where the covenant were attacking anyway, they had no need to contain the jump and the energy released. This is what caused the destruction. 2) Because they are in atmosphere, instead of in space which is a vacuum, the explosion was caused because the particles in our atmosphere caught 'flame' through the temporal rift and closing of another dimension. This is a similiar theory to what scientists believed the atomic bomb might do to the atmosphere, but on a more contained level.

As long as we are on the subject of the explosion, thats what unearthed the ark, I beleive. Its all very coincidental, and that is what's going to make a sort of cheesy yet understandable plot twist for Halo 3. Just thinking.


With love,

A friend of a Friend (I keep forgetting to make these contributions logged in, which is funny:)) —This unsigned comment was made by CaptainAdamGraves (talkcontribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~

Graves...wow. Excellent analysis, yet again, I fail to concur. I can understand it for mini-black holes and Hawking Radiation, which is simply that black holes must radiate energy as they continue on a temporal axis (i.e. - go forward in time), as they absorb information and matter/energy (all the same according to e=mc2). The reason that some don't believe the existance of hawking radiation is that mini-black holes explode in huge, stellar conflagarations of gamma radiation according to the theory of hawking radiation. these are, according to the calculations, astronomical enough to be seen on Earth. I could see a UNSC ship making an explosion, not a Covvie ship, *sighs* Not bad for a thirteen-year-old, eh? Cheers, RelentlessRecusantFile:Jedi Order.jpg 01:16, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
That would also explain why when Master Chief made the slipspace jump from Installation 04 to Reach aboard the Ascendant Justice in Halo: First Strike, the timestamp data didn't corraborate with each other, seemingly that the ship had accelerated in time. Cortana exclaims something to the effect that 'The Forerunner artifact had manipulated their slispace travel, wanting them to come there.' That theory in itself shatters the basis of a considerable amount of common knowledge considered fact, so I wont even go into that. It has alot to do with an exostential quality to Forerunner artifacts, having the abilities to warp space and time to their own liking, playing "god" if you will. God? There's that word again, brought up in a rant about the forerunner. I don't think they're gods though, since 'God' created life... Why would they create themselves?
Lovely.
-A friend of a friend.
User:CaptainAdamGraves
"God not only plays dice, He throws them in places we can not see."
— Stephen Hawking
-49 Proximal Secant [RelentlessRecusantFile:Jedi Order.jpg 21:16, 4 December 2006 (UTC)]

Retrieved from User talk:CaptainAdamGraves...

Hmmm... Perhaps slipspace works differently for the Covenant. Cortana in Halo:First Strike did note that the slipspace jumping capability was much more finely tuned in the physics department. I have another theory. It's about cars... But I need some more time to fine tune to analogy. User:CaptainAdamGraves

What the hell about cars? Anyways, what H:FS says makes perfect sense. Space is composed of an infinite number of infinitesimally small quantum strings - the proginitors of stirng theory. The vibrations of such strings create particles and the spacetime continuum and the multiple 11 dimensions...if the Covenant can slip ships through chains of such strings, they would have infinite accuracy. Literal infinite accuracy. The several picometer deviation of their slipspace courses are probably through quantum uncertainty in transversing such strings. =D Cheers, RelentlessRecusantFile:Jedi Order.jpg 22:12, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
And you're thirteen, and you already know such scientific terminology? Damn, if only I had been that scientifically inclined those few years ago, maybe now I wouldn't have so much trouble with Chem. class. But, I understand what you are saying. It would mean that human ships cannot move through the precise strings, they can only navigate in that dimension with estimated fields of courses, picking a course string at random, plotting the course vectors, and waiting. This would explain why human ships take months in slispace at some times, while other times they only take a matter of days. Though, still, the random probability of a human ship achieving the perfect jump must be astronomical when it's random. But for a covenant ship, it must just be routine. It's why they were able to do such accurate jumps when fighting the MAC cannons orbiting Reach. Correct? I'm hoping that I am able to grasp what youre saying, because it truly is interesting.
Lovely.
User:CaptainAdamGraves
Well, only partially correct, my dear Helen. THe impression I get is that UNSC starships use these miniature black holes and the resultant Hawking Radiation (see above) to blow holes in Slipspace - to superwiden certain quantum strings. Of course, such a blowing up and enlarging of quantum strings is not accurate. Hell no. It would be nigh impossible to control the emitted radiation to open the precisely correct strings required. Then, you're correct. A semi-blind jump, several million kilometers plus-minus of their destination. The reason that they take so long, I believe, is that they need to continually generate energy to keep the quantum strings open. Like fully open so that the UNSC ship can continue travelling. I believe that Covvies do it much faster because they are not trying to influence a whole mass of strings. UNSC ships need to randomly create exploding black holes to maintain probably more than trillions of strings open, 'cuz they can't tell which ones they've opened, which ones they're using, so they don't dare to close a few in fear of cutting themselves away into alternate dimensions forever...Covvies just open one string. That's it.
All guesswork, of course, but backed by quantum mechanics.
And Helen, I know this b/c I did a lot of astrophysics, chaos theory, and quantum mechanics work two years back. Those were great times. I was 11 then...=D
And do you need help w/ chem? I've taken General Chemistries I and II, and if there's anything, feel free to ask 49 Proximal Secant.
And it was only after a Google search I found out whatever math theorem you were sprouting 'bout secant. Damn. I only know the integration and differentiation of secant, how it's made on the coordinate plane and right triangle and how to plot an equation w/ it onthe polar plane...yeah...damn. Math major, may I inquire?
Cheers, RelentlessRecusantFile:Jedi Order.jpg 02:06, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Blowing Things Up

maby seeing as it was a human planet the covenant decided to let off one of there big fancy bombs like they did to the athens and the malta--Fatman ninja 21:48, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

no offense, but what in the stars are you speaking of? cheers, RelentlessRecusantFile:Jedi Order.jpg 22:14, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

He thinks they droped a bomb as they leftGalacticdominator 13:49, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

A theory about slipspace radiation

UNSC ships are equipped with lead foil that protects the marines from the high amounts of radiation due to slipspace travel, but it is unknown whether the Covenant utilize lead foil as well. I think that the radiation may not have any effect on them whatsoever.

My basing for this is that humans can suffer mild mutations and genetic disorders because of plasma radiation from plasma grenades. However, Covenant Unggoy are seen throwing plasma grenades at every possible chance in "Halo: Combat Evolved" and "Halo 2", and there are no discernable side effects.

Further proof is the fact that Grunts do not have energy shields, and the grenades touch their bare flesh, as there is no armor on their arms. This leads to speculation that perhaps the many species of the Covenant have perhaps evolved an immunity to plasma and slipspace radiation. Spartan-320 13:59, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

  • You can't have an "immunity" to radiation. Radiation is a physical attack on the body. It's like saying "an immunity to bullets."--The All-knowing Sith'ari 16:00, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

You can have an immunity to bullets if your skin's hard enough. Maybe the Covies have a bolstered cellular repair system which fixes radiation damage. Plants are still alive around where Chernobyl went up. It also wouldn't be beyond them to genetically engineer such a resistance to radiation.86.154.76.113 17:06, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Advancements

By 2525 - Epsilon Indi to Reach - two months, despite being between 10 and 11 lightyears apart in real life.

By 2552 - Reach to Earth in only 19 days, being about ten lightyears.

Future? - captured Covenant tech.

Should we add the section? Obviously expanded, rather than the barebones here, but is it worth including? Specops306, Kora 'Morhek 04:53, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Speeds

I've done some calculating, and come out with some interesting results.

  • Lieutenant Wagner's Prowler managed to reach Earth in four days. Epsilon Eridani is 10.5 ly's from Earth. That gives us a speed of 2.625 lightyears per day.
  • The Gettysberg, travelling from Tau Ceti 11.89 lightyears away from Earth, reached it in 35 hours (min estimate) with a Covenant slipspace matrix, giving a figure of .33 lightyears per hour, or 8.15 lightyears per day.

that's quite a figure. 2.6 l/d vs 8.l5 l/d? No wonder we were losing so badly. The Covenant take one third of the time it takes human drives! Specops306, Kora 'Morhek 23:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Okay, instead of using the ambiguous Gettysburg travel (because it never states when the ship arrives at Earth), I used the time it took the Covenant Destroyer that Blue Team hijacks in GoO, one hour, and the distance from Earth to Zeta Doradus, which is 38 lightyears. 38 lightyears in one hour?? thats 912 lightyears per day! No wonder we were losing this war! Specops306, Kora 'Morhek 03:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Daaamn. -- Sgt.johnsonFile:General-gr1.gif 03:02, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Now, this is interesting. I've recently realized that the UNSC's sphere of influence is a lot bigger than we've been led to believe. It is possibly up to five hundred light-years wide. Look at this:
Beta Centauri: 525 light-years from Earth. Human slipspace velocity: 2.625 ly/day
525/2.625=200 days (roughly). With cryotubes, that's nothing!--The All-knowing Sith'ari 16:30, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
All this really says to me is that the drive works “At the Speed of plot” it goes as fast or as slow as needed for the plot to work, or that the variations in speed mentioned can be by a factor of 100. Either way attempting to assign and actual “top speed” given the huge differences between different incidents looks to me to be very much a fools errand.--TK3997 07:45, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

????

In Halo: First Strike it says cortana looks for a Slipspace drive on pelican despite the ship having no mention of it having lead foil.

Matterwave Transport Without Transit

I'd love to read the page that the sentence leads to - unfortunately, the link doesnt work. Specops306, Kora 'Morhek 00:00, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, now it does, it sounds remarkably similar! -- Administrator Specops306 - Qur'a 'Morhek Honour Light Your Way! 04:16, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Cleanup

some blocks of text are out of place and quite a bit of this info needs to be checked with the books. Omega117 06:42, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Slipspace Velocities.

According to the above comments, I take it that the slipspace speeds of an average human ship, as well as covenant ships are all just based off calculations based off travel times from the novels - and the only evidence is one instance of travel.

Yet the speed 2.1 ly/day is marked to basically every human ship out there. How are we supposed to know if that speed is default to every ship? What if the slipspace drives developed during the Human-Covenant war? Or maybe they just vary ship to ship? They might've been a lot slower in the 2520's and earlier, as evidenced by some mentions in Fall of Reach and Contact Harvest, for instance. Putting the speed of 2.1 ly/day to every human ship out there is outright speculation.

This applies to Covenant ships too. We don't know if their slipspace velocities actually vary or not, so claims shouldn't be made unless we have proof. And i don't think one journey of one ship counts as proof.--Jugus 21:00, September 15, 2009 (UTC)

Slipspace Question

when ships jump in atmosphere it cause's an explosion what about when the ark portal was activated n ships went into it? why was there no expolosion? -Shipmaster117-

In fact, there is an explosion when the portal is activated. A rather big one too. The screen just goes black at the point, but it clearly generates a shockwave of some sort.--Jugus 08:01, October 23, 2009 (UTC)

good point, but y no damage to voi? the exploseion was big enugh for it to reach past voi. Shipmaster117 09:55, October 23, 2009 (UTC)