Content deleted Content added
The thinned array curse isn't the smaller spot size, but the lower power. Revised lede to make this clearer. |
Wingman4l7 (talk | contribs) →Consequences: -- improved ref |
||
Line 26:
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]] (an application of [[beam-powered propulsion]]), can be found in Robert Forward's paper "Roundtrip Interstellar Travel Using Laser Pushed Lightsails."<ref name="Forward 1984 pp. 187–195">{{cite journal | last=Forward | first=Robert L.
==See also==
| |||