Ever wanted to join the Jedi Order? Many of us have fantasised about slicing a bright green (or blue) swath across a galaxy far, far away with an elegant weapon fit for a more civilised period. Disney even filed a patent for one of these in 2018, but the name of the invention—"Sword device with the retractable, internally illuminated blade"—doesn't exactly conjure up visions of slicing through blast doors or droid armor.
On this Star Wars Day, it prompts the question, "Is it really possible to build a lightsaber, and if so, how far are we from holding it in our hands and whistling "Duel of Fates"?" You might be surprised by the answer, but first, let's define what a lightsaber is and have a look at some examples.
So what would you need to make a lightsaber as we know it?
There are six basic requirements that a lightsaber must meet: it must glow and light up when in use, it must be retractable, it must be able to cut through objects, you must be able to cross it in combat, and most importantly, it must adhere to the rule of cool. The bad news is that none of these are currently achievable all at once, but the good news is that each one is already theoretically possible.
Kyber Crystals are not available to us in our galaxy, but the principles of physics are a more than adequate replacement. The light and cutting edge are the first issues to address, and for that, we can make use of the laminar flow physical principle. Similar to when you use a shower head, this is when every part of a gas or fluid is traveling in the same direction without bumping into one another.
This, therefore, enables us to create a single, highly effective beam of cutting power using any fluid fuel-oxidizer combination. Although we might be tempted to utilize fuel and propellant of rocket grade, the truth is that anything as basic as the liquid propane used in BBQs is more than sufficient. With these components—BBQ fuel and a laminar flow jet—getting a retractable blade only requires adjusting the fuel mixture and valves. To create the famous whoosh sound made by a lightsaber when it is swung, a speaker and accelerometer are needed to build a circuit.
The blade's iconic hue is the finishing touch. Even if the temperature of an object is closely related to its color according to Wien's Displacement rule, this won't produce the vibrant hue that we typically associate with this part of the Star Wars universe. Instead, we may control the color by adding trace amounts of particular chemical compounds to the end of the hilt. For instance, we can create the recognizable Sith red by burning strontium metal, or the Mace Windu purple by burning potassium chloride. The heat of the plasma produced by the fuel-oxidizer mixture will be the source of the brilliant glow of the lightsaber.
The ability to cross them in a duel still remains a problem, requiring resistance to temperatures high enough to melt a blast door. The Tantalum Hafnium Carbide Alloy (Ta4HfC5) currently has the highest melting point, melting at a scorching 3990 °C. Sadly, this is about the temperature at which liquid propane burns. Making anything retractable also introduces minor flaws in the metal, increasing the likelihood of fractures and failures. Therefore, certain precautions must be taken even while working with ultra-heat-resistant materials to prevent the material from collapsing under stress.
This means that any attempt to construct a lightsaber that you can combat with must have both a sturdy and heat-resistant material.
How close are we to being able to wield the favored weapon of the Jedi?
The fuel and the duel are the two main obstacles keeping us from using a lightsaber that is exact to the screen. Finding a fuel with a high density and a high burning temperature will enable us to produce a beam capable of melting steel, assuming that we are still operating under the aforementioned laminar flow principle. We want the former so we can store the fuel in a convenient, rechargeable cylinder, similar to a battery, and the latter so we can melt through any would-be rebels' blast doors.
Since acetylene is used in plasma cutters and kerosene was used in the Apollo program to send men to the moon, these two fuels would make good choices. These still fall short of the mark, though. Acetylene isn't thick enough to be held in a battery, therefore if you wanted to run a lightsaber for any length of time, you would need a big tank of the substance. On the other hand, kerosene's flame temperature is relatively low, making it difficult for it to cut through metal.
The ability to cross the blade then becomes a concern since you need a durable material that can withstand the strains of high heat and combat with a deadly foe at the same time. A center core made of a high-melting-point material, such as a tantalum hafnium carbide alloy, that can be telescopically stretched with the high-temperature flame from the propellant and fuel mixture is how I would envision accomplishing this design.
The good news is that advancements in modern science are being made rapidly in this field. We are now closer than ever to creating a real-life lightsaber thanks to ongoing research on high-density, energy-rich fuels, and stress-resilient materials. What hue do you want yours to be is the only thing left to ask.
Robert Jones works as a post-doctoral research associate in the physics department at King's College London's Faculty of Natural, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences. He focuses in the simulation of theoretical condensed matter physics.
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