I regard James Blish as the master of fictional faster-than-light communication and I relate Blish's devices to Poul Anderson's Joel Weatherfield and holonts.
Blish's Devices
Ultrawave
Waves of contraction pass along a caterpillar's body faster than the caterpillar's own forward motion. Similarly, pulses along a laser beam between Earth and Centaurus III move 25% faster than light.
The Dirac Transmitter in Cities In Flight
A positron moving through a crystal lattice is accompanied by de Broglie waves corresponding to the waves of an electron elsewhere. Thus, controlling the frequency and path of the positron causes the electron to appear instantaneously in another communicator.
The Dirac Transnitter in "Beep"/The Quincunx Of Time
In a four-dimensional continuum, "instantaneously" means in the past and future as well as the present.
The CirCon Radio in A Case Of Conscience
The CircumContinuum radio communicates around the continuum but only in the present.
For similar devices in Poul Anderson's works, see:
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
There's also Duke Edwin of Hermes speculations in A STONE IN HEAVEN on whether it might be possible to send communications more quickly than by using couriers needing days/weeks to get to their destinations.
Ad astra! Sean
He speculates about having hyperwave relay stations in interstellar space.
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly! Edwin also kept in mind how the vastness of interstellar distances and the sheer numbers of relays necessary for such an effort might defeat it. Some means of manufacturing these relays cheaply and in quantity would need to be developed.
Truthfully, what the duke speculated about seems more plausible than Blish's suggestions in his stories.
Ad astra! Sean
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