Electric Universe: can an object be pinned at a solar pole with magnetic flux?
In an Electric Universe, where space is plasma soup and electromagnetism is the "magic" that can defeat the laws of physics, all stars are connected by invisible Birkland currents. Picture the rope that forms when you touch a plasma ball:
These natural electric currents are exploited for FTL travel. In simple terms, starships travel inside a magnetic bubble along an electric current to a nearby star, drop the bubble just in time to turn via gravity/slingshot, and then follow another electric rope to the next star.
A few star systems (early Type II on the Kardashev scale) have created super-highways by strengthening the weak Birkland current between two distant stars. They can now skip past the connecting stars and travel directly hub to hub. Assuming navigational stars are average 5 light years apart, let's estimate a super-highway at 20 to 25 light years.
My question is about the devices they use to do this.
the device, I think...?
I am picturing something like AC transformers, a mega-structure in space that converts the stars' electricity to a higher voltage, with a synchronized transformer at the other end. I'm not an electrical engineer so please correct me if I'm using the wrong electrical analogy.
This is my placeholder artwork from an earlier draft:
According to Electric Universe pseudo-science, all stars should have an ion jet at their magnetic poles. I want to pin the device above one of the poles (both if the star has two connections) using magnetic flux against the star.
The device's own magnetic field is so strong that it defeats gravity around it (wacky space). Parts of the device are discontiguous, but it all probably rotates as one large object. It is powered by the star's ion stream, and converts part of that stream to the "high voltage" Birkland current.
why does it matter, in context to the story
In the story, a robot protagonist has to journey into the device to repair an AI. It serves as a hero's journey to heaven/hell mythos. My goal is not hard science, but I'd like the electricity analogy to make sense, and inform how I structure the device.
the question, specifically
What is the general structure of the device? What are the physical and electrical parts? How big is it? Does it spin crazy fast?
Is the AC transformer analogy a good model? Would it impact the stars at all to wire them up in sequence?
Disclaimer: I am not trying to honor any beliefs specific to Electric Universe Theory, so perhaps Teslapunk would be a better genre description. I'm also fine with calling it "magic that is analogous to electricity".
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/73269. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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