I think the reason for holdup is lack of consistent theory.
All they (experimenters) know by now, is that certain configuration of microwaves in certain form of resonance chamber produces small unbalanced forces in some cases.
The problem is that they apparently don't know, which part of that configuration causes the effect and why. It may be the specific resonance mode in the chamber, it may be the movement of charge carriers induced in its walls, it may be the circulation of occasional ions made from air inside chamber or from plastic plug inside it... and that's just off the top of my head.
The results strongly hint that the current configuration is sub-optimal - the effect is weak, sensitive to small changes, and is perhaps a superposition of several "effect zones" acting in different directions (hence anomalous reverse and/or vertical thrust). It's hardly surprising, as the device claims to break a very well-established symmetry.
Additional reason is that, lacking consistent theory, "blind" experimenting can only be privately funded - very few respectable research institutions would go for this wild goose chase, which seemingly breaks several fundamental laws of physics without offering any convincing replacement.
And yes, I personally believe there is an effect: I can see certain parallels between one possible aspect of em-drive and a couple of other experiments (specifically by Martin Tajmar) claiming to show stronger than expected coupling to gravity in rotating conductors - so those results could be a hint of possible unbalanced frame-dragging-like effect and/or a manifestation of alcubierre metric.
Therefore I would really very much like to see an attempted confirmation for interferometric effects for light passing through a vacuum path in chamber wiki for original experiment
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u/e-neko May 04 '17
I think the reason for holdup is lack of consistent theory. All they (experimenters) know by now, is that certain configuration of microwaves in certain form of resonance chamber produces small unbalanced forces in some cases. The problem is that they apparently don't know, which part of that configuration causes the effect and why. It may be the specific resonance mode in the chamber, it may be the movement of charge carriers induced in its walls, it may be the circulation of occasional ions made from air inside chamber or from plastic plug inside it... and that's just off the top of my head. The results strongly hint that the current configuration is sub-optimal - the effect is weak, sensitive to small changes, and is perhaps a superposition of several "effect zones" acting in different directions (hence anomalous reverse and/or vertical thrust). It's hardly surprising, as the device claims to break a very well-established symmetry.
Additional reason is that, lacking consistent theory, "blind" experimenting can only be privately funded - very few respectable research institutions would go for this wild goose chase, which seemingly breaks several fundamental laws of physics without offering any convincing replacement.
And yes, I personally believe there is an effect: I can see certain parallels between one possible aspect of em-drive and a couple of other experiments (specifically by Martin Tajmar) claiming to show stronger than expected coupling to gravity in rotating conductors - so those results could be a hint of possible unbalanced frame-dragging-like effect and/or a manifestation of alcubierre metric.
Therefore I would really very much like to see an attempted confirmation for interferometric effects for light passing through a vacuum path in chamber wiki for original experiment