DEF: The Physical Basis of Electromagnetic Propulsion

The very existence of the physical vacuum provides a framework to propose a general mechanism for propelling bodies through an agency of electromagnetic fields, that seat in that medium. When two sub-systems of a general closed device interact via nonlocal and retarded electromagnetic pulses, it is easily shown that they give a nonzero force, and that only tend to comply with the action-to-reaction force in the limit of instantaneous interactions. The arrangement of sub-systems provide a handy way to optimize the unbalanced EM force with the concept of impedance matching. The general properties of the differential electromagnetic force (DEF) are the following: i) it is proportional to the square of the intensity and to the angular wave frequency $\omega$; ii) to the space between the sub-systems (although in a non-linear manner); iii) it is inversely proportional to the speed of interaction; iv) when the two sub-systems are out-of-phase, DEF is null. The approach is of interest to practical engineering principles of propulsion since it offers guiding principles useful to build prototypes.