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Exoplanet transits as the foundation of an interstellar communications network
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dc.contributor.author | Forgan, Duncan H. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-11T23:35:51Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-09-11T23:35:51Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2018-03-12 | |
dc.identifier | 252596207 | |
dc.identifier | a6e57285-8957-4c80-9341-f9de8751f92d | |
dc.identifier | 85043378905 | |
dc.identifier | 000468951900001 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Forgan , D H 2018 , ' Exoplanet transits as the foundation of an interstellar communications network ' , International Journal of Astrobiology , vol. First View . https://doi.org/10.1017/S1473550417000283 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 1473-5504 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10023/16013 | |
dc.description | The author gratefully acknowledges support from the ECOGAL project, grant agreement 291227, funded by the European Research Council under ERC-2011-ADG, and the STFC grant ST/J001422/1. | en |
dc.description.abstract | Two fundamental problems for extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) attempting to establish interstellar communication are timing and energy consumption. Humanity's study of exoplanets via their transit across the host star highlights a means of solving both problems. An ETI ‘A’ can communicate with ETI ‘B’ if B is observing transiting planets in A's star system, either by building structures to produce artificial transits observable by B, or by emitting signals at B during transit, at significantly lower energy consumption than typical electromagnetic transmission schemes. This can produce a network of interconnected civilizations, establishing contact via observing each other's transits. Assuming that civilizations reside in a Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ), I conduct Monte Carlo Realization simulations of the establishment and growth of this network, and analyse its properties in the context of graph theory. I find that at any instant, only a few civilizations are correctly aligned to communicate via transits. However, we should expect the true network to be cumulative, where a ‘handshake’ connection at any time guarantees connection in the future via e.g. electromagnetic signals. In all our simulations, the cumulative network connects all civilizations together in a complete network. If civilizations share knowledge of their network connections, the network can be fully complete on timescales of order a hundred thousand years. Once established, this network can connect any two civilizations either directly, or via intermediate civilizations, with a path much less than the dimensions of the GHZ. | |
dc.format.extent | 10 | |
dc.format.extent | 2092226 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | International Journal of Astrobiology | en |
dc.subject | Exoplanet transit | en |
dc.subject | METI | en |
dc.subject | SETI | en |
dc.subject | Simulation | en |
dc.subject | QB Astronomy | en |
dc.subject | QC Physics | en |
dc.subject | Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics | en |
dc.subject | Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) | en |
dc.subject | Space and Planetary Science | en |
dc.subject | Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) | en |
dc.subject | NDAS | en |
dc.subject | SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy | en |
dc.subject.lcc | QB | en |
dc.subject.lcc | QC | en |
dc.title | Exoplanet transits as the foundation of an interstellar communications network | en |
dc.type | Journal article | en |
dc.contributor.sponsor | European Research Council | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. School of Physics and Astronomy | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1017/S1473550417000283 | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
dc.date.embargoedUntil | 2018-09-12 | |
dc.identifier.url | https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.03730 | en |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | en |
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