Thinned-array curse: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:46, 27 July 2007

Revision as of 02:55, 1 October 2007

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The thinned array curse has consequences for [[microwave power transmission]] and [[wireless energy transfer]] concepts such as [[solar power satellite]]s; it suggests that it is not possible to make a smaller beam and hence reduce the size of a receiver (called a ''[[rectenna]]'' for microwave power beaming) by phasing together beams from many small satellites.

A short derivation of the thinned array curse, focusing on the implications for use of [[lasers]] to provide impulse for an [[interstellar probe]] (that is, an application of [[beam-powered propulsion]]), can be found in Robert Forward's paper "Roundtrip Interstellar Travel Using Laser Pushed Lightsails<ref>Robert L. Forward, "Roundtrip Interstellar Travel Using Laser Pushed Lightsails," ''J. Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 21,'' No. 2, Mar-Apr 1984, pp. 190.</ref>."

==References==