Subject: REC.ARTS.STARTREK.TECH FAQ: Transporters, Replicators and Phasing
From: [email-masked] (Joshua Sean Bell)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.tech

Transporters, Replicators and Phasing FAQ
                                       
   Last modified: Friday, 25 April 2003 02:03 AM -0700
   Maintained by: Joshua Bell, [email-masked]
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   Copyright (c) 1994-2003, Joshua Bell. Not in the public domain.
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     _________________________________________________________________
   
Contents:

     * 1. Transporters
     * 2. Replicators
     * 3. Phasing
     * 4. Credits
     * 5. References
     _________________________________________________________________
   
1. Transporters

   "How does the transporter work?"
   
   While there is no absolute canonical answer, we can piece one together
   from various clues, that fits nearly everything seen on-screen, and in
   the TNG Tech Manual.
   
   We have some evidence of the inner workings of transporters, but not
   much. They employ Heisenberg compensators, pattern buffers, phase
   transition coils, Biofilters, matter streams, confinement beams, and
   matter-energy converters, and phased matter. As for what they do, we
   know that you are conscious during transport (Star Trek II: The Wrath
   of Khan, "Realm of Fear" [TNG]), but can also be held in stasis ("Day
   of the Dove" [TOS], "Relics" [TNG]). Further, while in transport, you
   appear whole to yourself.
   
   I hypothesize that the Annular Confinement Beam first locks onto, then
   disassembles the subject into phased matter, via the phase transition
   coils, causing it to take on a very energy-like state somewhat akin to
   plasma, called phased matter. The matter stream is then fed into the
   pattern buffer, piped through wave-guide conduits to one of the beam
   emitters on the hull of the starship, and then relayed to a point on
   the ground where the ACB reconstructs the subject.
   
   ....
   
   "Excuse me, Annular Confinement Beam?"
   
   Yes. The ACB is where the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!" comes from. The
   beam serves two purposes: The first is to maintain a "lock" on the
   subject, so the transporter knows what to beam out, and what to leave
   behind. The second purpose is to do the actual transporting, whilst
   keeping the subject in one piece subjectively.
   
   ....
   
   "How does the transporter know what to take and what to leave?"
   
   In "The Enterprise Incident" [TOS], the ship's scanners are able to
   differentiate a Vulcan from all of the Romulans aboard another ship.
   They are very sensitive, but also take a great deal of time. In many
   episodes, this sensitivity is not used. However, to scan at that level
   of resolution would take perhaps far longer than the crew has.
   
   In any case, the ACB generators are able to scan the target subject,
   and either using some best-guessing or asking the Transporter Chief,
   decide what should be transported with the subject.
   
   As one r.a.st.tech poster put it, "One to beam up, hold the bunny
   slippers." :)
   
   ....
   
   "So what is this pattern thing?"
   
   The pattern buffer is a cyclotron-like tank (TNG:TM) which holds the
   whirling matrix of phased matter in the ACB while the subject is
   beamed out and beamed in. In order to keep track of where every part
   of the subject is, the computer constructs a pattern to keep track of
   what bits of the stream end up where.
   
   An analogy would be the [left->right->left&down]->top pattern a
   television electron gun follows to paint a picture on the phosphors of
   the screen. The television (we're assuming an old analog no-frills
   model) doesn't know and can't possibly store the information needed to
   construct a one-hour program, but it has a pattern, and uses a
   modulated matter (electron) stream to do it.
   
   In "Lonely Among Us" [TNG], Picard is recovered from being beamed away
   as pure energy. The computer is able to reconstruct Picard by using
   the pattern it had stored, working with the phased matter stream that
   Picard's energy state itself supplied. Since the pattern was
   pre-transport, the reformed Picard had no memories of the excursion.
   
   Similar to this is the transporter ID trace, which is kept for
   verification purposes for a long time after transport. This is
   probably a highly compressed sample of the pattern, plus the name of
   the transportee, logs of the transport cycle, etc. (TNG "Data's Day".)
   
   ....
   
   "So what is a Heisenberg Compensator?"
   
   As Mike Okuda said when asked by Time (28 Nov 1994), "How do the
   Heisenberg compensators work ?" "They work just fine, thank you."
   [Benjamin Chee]
   
   In physics, the Heisenberg Principle states that you cannot know both
   the position of a subatomic particle and its momentum to a precise
   degree. The more you know about one, the less you know can about the
   other.
   
   This comes into play when you consider that to know where everything
   is coming from and going to, you pretty much have to know near-exactly
   where everything is. By the 24th century, evidently, that's no longer
   a problem. The Heisenberg Compensators are probably used to keep
   everything in the matter stream exactly where it should be.
   
   Note that this doesn't mean that the Heisenberg Compensators tell you
   the vital statistics of the particle; they could very well just
   compensate for not knowing them and keep the system working just fine,
   thank you.
   
   ....
   
   "How does that Biofilter gadget work?"
   
   The Biofilter is a good clue as to how the transport patterns work.
   The filter looks for elements of the pattern which aren't found in
   normal beings/equipment, or those of known viruses and bacteria. It
   can simply erase those parts of the pattern, and those parts of the
   matter stream won't beam back in.
   
   In "Unnatural Selection" [TNG], Pulaski is restored from an aged state
   by the use of the Biofilter. If Pulaski's altered DNA could be tagged
   as unwanted, the pattern could be tweaked to restore the DNA (its
   pretty much all the same molecules anyway, just shuffle some
   base-pairs around). As for her recovering instantly... well, it's a TV
   show.
   
   ....
   
   "What is pattern degradation?"
   
   The pattern is probably highly complex. Pattern degradation occurs
   because the Annular Confinement Beams aren't perfect, even with the
   help of the Heisenberg Compensators. The matter stream comes out of
   alignment with the computer's pattern predictions for where things
   should be. Obviously, this is a bad thing.
   
   According to the TNG Tech Manual, a subject can be suspended in
   transport for up to 420 seconds before the degradation is too severe
   to attempt to reform the transportee. They push close to this limit in
   "Realm of Fear".
   
   In "Relics" [TNG], we see that by keeping the transport controller
   locked in a diagnostic loop, pattern degradation is kept to a minimum
   - even with an old-style transporter, only 0.003% of the pattern was
   lost after 75 years in stasis.
   
   In "Realm of Fear" [TNG], the most extraordinary development is the
   reconstruction of the lost crew, and their appearance as the giant
   slugs while in transport. I suspect that the phased-matter "bugs"
   which reside in the plasma environment act as a natural ACB,
   maintaining the pattern of those "lost" in transport. The computer is
   able to use the Biofilter to rebuild the patterns and restore the
   individuals.
   
   ....
   
   "Where are you during transport?"
   
   Inside the ACB. "Realm of Fear" [TNG] shows what it looks like - lots
   of blue and silver sparkles. If you mean from an outside observer's
   point of view, you're either in one of the pattern buffers, or in
   transit to the beaming coordinates. In "The Gamesters of Triskelion"
   [TOS], Kirk and crew are lost during transport. In the technobabble
   that follows, Spock and McCoy discuss whether recovering the lost
   crewmembers from the transport beam, thought to be zipping away from
   the Enterprise, is possible. This means that if the beam was somehow
   suspended, a smart computer could reconstruct the pattern and beam you
   back in. This might be what happened in "Realm of Fear" [TNG]. If the
   ACB environment is similar to a plasma field, the bugs could act as
   stabilizers. Long shot, but hey.
   
   ....
   
   "So was Scotty conscious for 75 years?" ("Relics" [TNG])
   
   Nope, or he would have starved - if your brain is working, your heart
   must be pumping blood, and it needs energy from somewhere. There are
   three possibilities for how this was accomplished:
   
   1) All transporters have an optional "stasis" switch, that locks the
   pattern of the subject during transport. In other words, they are
   frozen on a quantum level.
   
   2) Old-style transporters, as seen in TOS, always transported the
   subject under stasis. From watching the show, we can see the two
   stages in a bream-out. First, a sparkly pattern appears over the chest
   of the subject, and spreads to cover them. They are sometimes seen to
   move during this process. Then they start to have these yellow blobs
   appear as they fade out. They don't move during this second stage. We
   can speculate that there's a stasis field employed for some reason
   (technological limitations, safety, etc) during the actual transport
   stage with old technology. This style of transporter was present on
   the Jenolan ("Relics"), but is now obsolete.
   
   3) Putting the transport controller in a diagnostic loop imposes
   stasis on the subject, as a byproduct of the process by which
   degradation is minimized.
   
   Choice (3) is the most appealing to me.
   
   ....
   
   "What happens to the air when you beam in or beam out?"
   
   It is likely that during the beam-out process, air simply diffuses
   into the space previously occupied by the subject under transport.
   This happens slowly enough that there would be no pop, or any other
   sound, except perhaps a small hum or tinkling noise, depending on the
   dynamics of air interacting with the ACB.
   
   As for beaming in, the ACB lock on the target site probably gives the
   air a gentle "shove" out of the way, again with minimal noise. In the
   movies, we do see the beam sweep outwards before the subject
   materializes.
   
   ....
   
   "Why do people who are sitting end when beamed out end up standing
   when beamed in?" ("Tomorrow is Yesterday" [TOS])
   
   Something similar happened in "Bloodlines" [TNG] when Picard's "son"
   was beamed off a cliff face and ended up standing on the transporter
   pad. This implies that either the transporter can rearrange the
   various components of your body, which implies that it has a deep
   knowledge of biology (and this isn't supported), or that whilst in
   transport, some sort of force field "nudges" the transportee into an
   appropriate body position. So if you beam from the smooth transporter
   pad to bumpy "Planet Hell", the surface you feel under your feet while
   in transport distorts; you have time to adjust your balance before you
   materialize. (This has been suggested a number of times on
   rec.arts.startrek.tech, most recently by Ron Klapperich.)
   
   ....
   
   "How can you transport without a transporter at the receiving end?"
   
   According to the TNG Tech Manual, the Enterprise hull sports emitter
   array pads at various sites on its surface. They utilize "long-range
   virtual-focus molecular imaging scanners" to handle remote disassembly
   of the subject, and facilitate reassembly. The ACB is tightly focused
   onto the target area from the ship. This is limited - in the TNG era,
   40,000 km is the safe range for transport.
   
   ....
   
   "So why in TOS episodes/classic films did they beam from transporter
   room to transporter room?"
   
   Intra-ship transport in the TOS era was not very reliable. ("Day of
   the Dove" [TOS]) Likely, when two compatible transport systems were
   available, the surface emitters could "interlock", and the pattern
   buffers would synchronize. One transport system would handle the
   dematerialization, and hand off the ACB to the receiving end for the
   rematerialization. This is much safer and likely requires less energy,
   and can be used to get around certain environmental difficulties.
   ("Realm of Fear" [TNG])
   
   ....
   
   "What happened at the start of Star Trek: The Motion Picture then, if
   it's so safe?"
   
   When the power on the receiving end of the transport failed, the
   transport computer on the Enterprise was unable to maintain the
   pattern integrity of the matter stream. This is akin to catastrophic
   degradation of the pattern. Kirk said "Boost your matter gain, we need
   more signal!" - perhaps indicating that the ACB could have been used
   to reconstruct the pattern. In any case, the hand-off appeared to have
   been nearly complete when the transportees began reforming on the pad.
   Since the Enterprise could not handle the transport, the matter stream
   was sent back to Starfleet HQ, in the hopes that enough of the pattern
   remained in the ACB to reconstruct them at the sending site. It
   wasn't, and the subjects died shortly thereafter.
   
   ....
   
   "And why can't Trills be transported?" ("The Host" [TNG])
   
   Odan said that transport would kill him. However, in "The Alternate"
   [DS9], Dax is transported by a Federation transporter (aboard the
   Runabout), and suffers no ill effects. Since then she's been
   transported many times. There are a few possibilities.
   
   The first is that Odan did not wish to reveal that he was a
   host/symbiont pair, perhaps because the knowledge would disrupt the
   negotiations, lead to suspicion, or because all Trill were keeping
   their symbiont nature a secret at the time.
   
   The second is that, not knowing that Trill are a joined species, the
   Biofilter might identify the slug part as a parasite and delete the
   pattern, killing both the host and the symbiont. If this is true, then
   simply by turning off/adjusting the Biofilter, Trills can transport
   like anyone else. Surely, once the unique nature of the Trill was
   revealed, the all Federation Biofilters would be reprogrammed to
   ignore the symbiont.
   
   The third is that some Trill symbionts would be damaged by the
   transport process, and others wouldn't be. This is proposed in the
   Encyclopedia. Another possibility is that the link in an injured Trill
   (host or symbiont) is susceptible to damage during transport.
   
   ....
   
   "Can you transport through subspace?"
   
   In "Data's Day" [TNG], the use of a subspace carrier wave was
   mentioned as the method by which the transporter beam propagates.
   
   In "Bloodlines" [TNG], Bok has a subspace transporter, a technology
   which was researched but later abandoned by the Federation. The range
   is at least 300 billion kilometers, and at most several light years
   and the subject is put into a state of molecular flux. Doesn't sound
   healthy. How is this different than normal transport? Probably just a
   deeper level of subspace.
   
   In "The High Ground" [TNG], transporting through folded space using a
   subspace field coil made for instant, untraceable transports. The only
   problem is that it causes slow, irreversible genetic damage to the
   transport subject. It is a cumulative effect: one or two transports
   would be harmless, but dozens or hundreds are fatal. The Federation
   experimented with such technology in the 23rd Century, so this may be
   what Bok was using as well. (Joseph M. Osborne)
   
   ....
   
   "Why can't you be transported through shields?"
   
   If you could be transported through shields, they'd be pretty lousy
   shields. Just transport a bomb or boarding party over.
   
   Benjamin Chee:
   
     Just a thought here. Says in the TNG Tech Manual that phasers may
     be fired one-way through the ship's own shields due to EM
     polarization (whatever that means). If this holds true for other
     forms of wavicle energy, then one might be able to transport out
     one-way through shields, too.
     
   Benjamin points out that in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock,
   Klingons transport while their Bird of Prey is cloaked, yet in "The
   Search, Part 1" [DS9] the Defiant has to decloak to transport.
   
   Greg Moseley suggests that the differences between the Klingon and
   Romulan cloaking devices may be responsible for the discrepancy; the
   Defiant cloak is on loan from the Romulans in return for information
   about the Gamma Quadrant.
   
   Benjamin adds that in "The Die Is Cast" [DS9] a Romulan ship decloaks
   on top of a runabout before it can beam the occupants aboard. But in
   "The Way of the Warrior" [DS9] an entire fleet of Klingon ships stays
   cloaked until the battle warms up.
   
   And finally, more wisdom from Benjamin:
   
     One more point - the Klingon clunker in Generations had to decloak
     before it could beam Soran aboard, didn't it ? We never really were
     told why nor do we have much to conjecture from, but this is indeed
     an exception to the rule. In a mail to Mike Okuda, he also admitted
     that they never really kept track of the cloaks - might have been
     coincidence all the way up till Generations.
     
   ....
   
   "But what about the time O'Brien used the shield frequencies..." ("The
   Wounded" [TNG])
   
   Shields must allow some energy through to allow sensors to operate. To
   be safe, these frequencies are cycled, allowing sensor windows. By
   knowing the shield cycles, and the right frequencies, it is be
   possible to adjust the transporter to work at those few open
   frequencies, and slip past the shields.
   
   Of course, if the destination ship detects you trying to beam through,
   they can alter the shield frequencies and end the transport suddenly,
   with rather messy results.
   
   ....
   
   "What about in "Relics" [TNG] - they didn't do anything special!"
   
   One would imagine that shield and transporter technologies are in a
   constant development race, as sensors and cloaks are. The "enemy" is
   always trying to figure out a way to transport through your shields,
   and thus you must always be trying to improve your shields to block
   this. Hence, any 70-year-old shields, like those on the Jenolan, would
   be practically transparent to modern transporters.
   
   Alternately, Geordi and Scotty knew that the Enterprise would have to
   beam them off the ship, and turned off the "transport blocking"
   frequencies in the shields.
   
   ....
   
   "Could surgery be performed with a transporter?"
   
   It all depends on the surgery. For example - could I suspend you in
   transport, reform the pattern so that your arm is no longer broken,
   your skin is no longer cut, etc? Yes. But in sickbay they already have
   machines which do it near-instantly, and don't take the massive
   resources of the transporter.
   
   For such things as removing a tumor, you must consider what replaces
   the object being transported away. In all likelihood, a vacuum. Having
   a small vacuum appear inside you body is probably more deadly than the
   tumor was in the first place. It has been suggested that you could
   synchronize two ACBs and beam in a saline solution in place of the
   tumor you are transporting out, but again, why bother? There are
   already medical devices which probably use micro-transporter
   technology to effect the surgery.
   
   In "Deadlock" [VOY], a baby (Naomi Wildman) was transported out of its
   mother when there were complications during delivery - so apparently
   this sort of thing is performed in emergency situations when the
   normal medical resources are inadequate for the task. (Thanks to Eur
   van Andel for pointing that out.)
   
   ....
   
   "What about souls?"
   
   Heh. Well, if you've already decided that Star Trek transporters and
   souls don't get along, then accept that your position has been made
   abundantly clear in the past, and don't bother to follow-up. Souls
   aren't precluded by transporters, they just require that somehow,
   souls can (1) "tag along" with the physical body through transport,
   (2) stay in stasis along with a body, and (3) be duplicated. Since
   there isn't (and many maintain, there can't be) any way of analyzing
   this hypothetical "soul", it makes little sense to argue about what it
   can and cannot do.
   
   ....
   
   "Can you transport while in Warp?"
   
   Yes. According to the TM and "Best of Both Worlds, Part II", if you're
   in Warp you can transport as long as you are both at the same Warp
   value. The TM says "integral warp value", but in BOBW2 they were
   chasing the Borg ship at, I believe, warp 9.6 or something similar.
   
   H. Peter Anvin offers:
   
     I think the intent of the phrase "integral warp value" means
     anything with the same integer number, i.e. 8 <= warp < 9; so in
     BOBW2 the big E would only have had to exceed Warp 9 in order to
     make this possible. The TM makes it abundantly clear that a
     transition occurs at integral warp factors (and we deduce that to
     be the reason the warp scale changed between TOS and TNG) so I
     think it makes a lot of sense.
     
   Possible. However, doesn't O'Brien say "Matching warp velocities for
   transport" or something quite similar? They'd have to be going at
   nearly the same velocity already to keep up with the Borg ship, so
   matching velocities could only refer to fine tuning.
   
   In "Force of Nature" [TNG], they transport from a stationary ship
   while falling out of warp in an area of massive subspace instability.
   It could be that since they aren't actively generating a warp field of
   any level they can get away with transport.
   
   ....
   
   "What happened in "The Schizoid Man" [TNG] ?"
   
   The Enterprise dropped out of warp for a fraction of a second, and
   engage the transport system. Troi reported feeling like she was inside
   the wall for a moment. It appears that the matter stream falls out of
   the ACB before transport is quite complete. Definitely a nasty thing
   if things aren't perfect.
   
   ....
   
   And in the transporter weaponry category:
   
   Transporter Scramblers: (from "Nor the Battle to the Strong" [DS9] &
   "The Darkness and the Light" [DS9])
   
   Transporter Scramblers are electronic countermeasures that prohibit
   transporter activity in a given area. There are no known ways to
   overcome the scrambler, except through sabotage. Small scramblers can
   protect a few rooms of a ship or station, while larger arrays can
   block an entire planet. They are a standard part of Klingon ground
   assaults and are used in the protection of certain spaces of DS9.
   
   Remat Detonators: (from "The Darkness and the Light" [DS9])
   
   Remat Detonators are a Romulan weapon, probably invented by the Tal
   Shiar, that destroys a transporter pattern during rematerialization.
   They are very small, only 2 cubic millimeters, and are hidden on the
   person of the victim. Remat detonators are currently available on the
   black market as assassination weapons. They are also undetectable to
   most scans.
   
   Thanks to Joseph M. Osborne for these summaries.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
2. Replicators

   "How do replicators work?"
   
   Replicators are based on transporter technology. A sample object is
   first "scanned" into the memory of a computer. Because even a simple
   object takes up an enormous amount of memory, the object is only
   resolved at a molecular level, not a quantum level. Further, the data
   must be compressed using a lossy algorithm, meaning that small,
   undetectable approximations are made to the data. This gives the
   computer a pattern to create a duplicate of the original. (TNG TM)
   
   Starships have a small supply of bulk material that is constantly
   recycled into needed materials and items. When a request is made at a
   replicator terminal, the wave-guide conduit system on the ship relays
   a small amount of bulk material to the replicator, which uses it to
   create the materials called for in the pattern. The object is then
   beamed in at the terminal.
   
   ....
   
   "Can replicators transmute elements?"
   
   Yes... sort of. There have been occasions on the show where some
   required element cannot be replicated. The Tech Manual talks about
   "quantum transformational manipulation", so they can do some quantum
   twiddling to get new elements. However, it also says that the energy
   costs are high for all forms of replication, and that food, since it's
   usually just different arrangements of the same basic things (water,
   proteins, lipids), is more practical to replicate from bulk matter
   than to store.
   
   In "Night Terrors" [TNG], when a certain substance is needed, Data
   says "We no longer have the power to reproduce complex elements in the
   replicator." This is evidence for the above.
   
   ....
   
   "What about gold-pressed latinum?"
   
   In "Who Mourns for Morn?" [DS9], latinum is described as a clear,
   viscous liquid. Morn has kept latinum in his second stomach for years.
   It's pressed into gold to to handle it better. The gold is worth
   nothing. 30 cc latinum is about 200 bricks worth. [Eur van Andel]
   
   So, why is it valuable? See above about energy costs and certain
   elements - possibly latinum is a stable element that 24th century
   technology can't transmute. Or, alternatively, it could take *exactly*
   (perhaps by definition) the same amount of energy to replicate as it
   takes to mine/ manufacture, making it a good standard for monetary
   transactions.
   
   Here's what Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach came up with when confronted
   with this question in the book The Making of DS9, c/o Benjamin Chee:
   
     Q: How could it be so valuable if it could be churned out by any
     replicator ?
     
     RS: Oh, well, Mike and I have had discussions about things like
     this... it might be that, you know, that the particular molecular
     structure just doesn't, you know, doesn't - Mike? Why can't you
     replicate latinum ?
     
     MO: Uh, it's because - uh, when - uh, it's because the um, the, uh,
     uh, the valence system and the molecular structure are, are
     arranged - the, uh, the, the, uh, replicator reads certain valence
     patterns - it recognizes that, that those are... copyguarded !
     
     Q: Copyguarded ?
     
     RS: Copyguarded! Oh, they're, they're 'nudged', sort of 'nudged
     quanta' and if they're -
     
     MO: Hey, we talked about this before.
     
     RS: That's right, that's right. Yes, and if they're, they're
     polarized in the, in the X plane, then they're, they're okay. If
     they're polarized in the Y-Z plane, then they're bogus.
     
     MO: Right.
     
   Tom Luton writes:
   
     The novel "Balance of Power" (TNG #33, written by Dafydd Ab Hugh)
     has a detailed description of why latinum cannot be replicated. I
     don't have the novel with me, but as far as I can remember, latinum
     has a highly complex molecular structure, and is extremely similar
     to Chasenum. Any attempt to replicate Latinum will result in the
     formation of Chasenum (I've forgotten the specific details, and I
     don't even think I've spelled the name of the material
     correctly).
     
   ....
   
   "What happens to the glasses when they're done with them?"
   
   The empty glasses, plates, etc, are put back in the replicator
   terminal ("Timescape" [TNG]), and returned as raw materials to the
   bulk matter store. It would make sense if they were only disassembled
   on the molecular level, as the energy needed to reform new glasses
   would be much lower than if they were broken down to the atomic level
   or quantum level.
   
   ....
   
   "Why don't they use replicators to do instant ship repair?"
   
   For minor repair, it might be feasible, but we rarely see any sort of
   repairs actually being done. When Geordi says "30 minutes at least,
   Captain", they might be replicating various components and using a
   transporter-effected swap-out. Recall, however, that the transporters
   and replicators use a lot of power. The replicators go offline in
   Alert situations, for example. It would be foolish to rely on such a
   system to repair the ship in emergencies, but it is doubtless used at
   other time.
   
   For large scale repair, I think the TNG Tech Manual says it best: "...
   if you could make a starship at the touch of a button, you wouldn't
   need to..."
   
   ....
   
   "Can you make two Datas with the transporter?"
   
   No. It is not possible (with 24th century technology, at least) to
   replicate something at the quantum level. First, the amount of
   information needed to define a living, thinking being at that level of
   detail is incredibly large, far surpassing the computer capacity of
   any 24th century database. (TNG TM)
   
   Presumably, Data and other Soong-type androids which use positronic
   brains have components which function at a quantum, or sub-molecular
   level which cannot be easily replicated.
   
   Secondly, there is no way to scan at quantum resolution without
   destroying the subject. The transporter ACB need not know the precise
   details of every particle being transported - where they are and what
   they are doing is enough. Further, attempting to retrieve such
   information from the ACB would destroy it.
   
   To duplicate a living being, a hypothetical effect, which I call an
   Annular Confinement Beam-Splitter, would be needed. As the ACB was
   passed through it, along with a supply of raw phased matter, it would
   duplicate the ACB's contents in the raw stream.
   
   ....
   
   "Hey! What about "The Enemy Within" and "Second Chances" ?"
   
   For better or worse, no such device has been intentionally created by
   24th century science. However, in "The Enemy Within" [TOS], Kirk's
   duplication may have been caused by some accidental effect which
   caused an ACBS to form in the normal transporter mechanism, with
   disastrous results. The Encyclopedia says that damage to the the
   transporter's ionizer was the cause of the split.
   
   In "Second Chances" [TNG], the mechanism by which Riker is duplicated
   is explained in detail. During transport through severe atmospheric
   interference, the transporter chief locked onto Riker's signal with a
   second ACB. When it turned out not to be needed, the second signal was
   abandoned. The atmospheric interference caused the second ACB to be
   reflected back to the planet, and somehow the matter stream was
   duplicated, using phased matter from the atmospheric interference
   effect to provide the duplicate mass.
   
   ....
   
   "What about the time when... ?"
   
   Star Trek has "broken" the rules of transporters a number of times.
   There are very few glaring examples of misuse of the transporter as a
   plot device to save the day, but the worst include:
   
   "Rascals" [TNG] - Picard, Keiko, Guinan and Ro are turned into
   children in a freak transporter accident, and later restored. I won't
   even try. First off, the biology used in this episode is pure BS.
   Secondly, if a quick fix like this can alter the aging process, then
   by doing it intentionally, no-one will ever grow old and die again.
   Amusing episode, but it gets a thumbs down in the Treknology category.
   
   "Unnatural Selection" [TNG] - The transporter magically rejuvenates
   Pulaski. While the mechanism by which her cure works is relatively
   sound, the fact that she recovers instantly is anomalous. (See "Man of
   The People" [TNG] for a similar insta-heal.) Better to just not ask.
   
   "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" [TOS] - Somehow, the transporter is able to
   erase the memories of people by transporting a newer version of
   themselves over top of an older version. Talk about saving the day by
   transporter abuse!
   
   "The Enemy Within" [TOS] - While I can buy the duplication effect, and
   maybe even the two disparate personas of the two Kirks, I think the
   recombination of the two was pushing the technology a little bit.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
3. Phasing

   "What is phasing? It seems to be mentioned everywhere these days!"
   
   Star Trek seems to have this notion of "phased" as a state or quality
   of matter and energy. Things can be offset slightly in a time-like
   dimension from our "phase" of the universe. The idea being that if you
   and I have different "phases" we can't interact with each other
   without using special particles or fields or the usual [TECH].
   
   This is borne out in "The Mind's Eye" [TNG], where Geordi lists the
   five states in Sub-Quantum Transformational Relativity:
     * asymmetrical
     * inverted
     * phased
     * standing
     * universal
       
   Phasers set on kill appear to work by violently phasing their target
   into one (or more) different phases. Ouch. This explains rather nicely
   why they just disappear and don't go "boom". Chronotons, which have
   been linked to time travel and associated effects, are also mentioned
   with regards to phasing a few times.
   
   "The Tholian Web" [TOS] - The U.S.S. Defiant and Captain Kirk get
   trapped in an "interphase" rift, phasing in and out.
   
   "The Next Phase" [TNG] - Geordi and Ro and a Romulan get accidentally
   phase-cloaked within the Enterprise. They can walk through walls and
   people. (They don't fall through the floor, though.) A high-intensity
   sweep with anyons return Geordi and Ro to normal phase.
   
   "Time's Arrow" [TNG] - Phased creatures from Devidia Two are
   travelling through a portal to 19th Century Earth to steal neural
   energy. A subspace field can be used to align the phases of the
   Enterprise crew and the creatures.
   
   "The Pegasus" [TNG] - The Enterprise uses a phase-cloak developed
   illegally many years ago by the Federation earlier to escape from an
   asteroid. The cloaking device phases the entire ship.
   
   "Relics" [TNG] - Scotty couples the transporter phase inducers to the
   pattern buffer to create the suspension effect. Given that
   transporting involves conversion to a beam of matter and energy, and
   that you can transport through walls, that beam better be phased or
   there'll be some big nasty holes whenever people transport.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
4. Credits:

          Tom Luton
          Eur van Andel, [email-masked]
          Joseph M. Osborne [email-masked]
          Boris S., [email-masked]
          Greg Moseley, [email-masked]
          John F. Meyer Jr., [email-masked]
          Erik Ebert, [email-masked]
          H. Peter Anvin, [email-masked]
          Benjamin Chee, [email-masked]
          Ron Klapperich, [email-masked]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
5. References:

   See the Reading List FAQ for more details on the reference volumes
   mentioned above and below.
   
   The question of "what is canon" has been argued for years in the Star
   Trek newsgroup hierarchy. In the realm of technical discussions, this
   can be refined to the question of "what evidence is factual, and what
   is apocryphal". These FAQs follow the currently dominant notion that
   "canon" is aired live-action material and nothing more, with the
   caveat that materials produced off-camera by the production crew are
   often (but not always) reliable predictors of the direction future
   canonical material will follow, and are therefore granted a special
   "quasi-canonical" status. Any other material falls into the realm of
   speculation - it may be perfectly well grounded speculation useful for
   building up technical arguments, or wild flights of fancy that have no
   rational basis.
   
   In addition, more recently presented information is considered to
   supercede old information, unless the weight of the evidence supports
   the original data. While this may seem highly biased and may be eyed
   with some skepticism as a form of Orwellian "newthink", it is a more
   useful predictor of what those directly responsible for the creation
   of the series are likely to include as canonical material in the
   future.
   
   For example, the excellent and groundbreaking Star Fleet Technical
   Manual, by Franz Joseph created in the 1970's was a very well thought
   out look at the technical world of Starfleet just slightly beyond what
   was seen in the original series. Unfortunately, and perhaps for purely
   arbitrary reasons, the future development of "canon" Star Trek
   diverged from this speculation. This in no way implies that there was
   anything wrong with that volume or any others, merely that due to
   later "evidence", it can no longer be regarded as an authoritative
   overview of Trek technology. On the other hand, the author performed a
   lot of research to create it, and therefore its speculation should not
   be dismissed out of hand.
   
   That said, we are dealing with a universe in the process of being
   created by scores of (usually) non-technical people, aiming to provide
   weekly entertainment for a mass audience. There are many
   inconsistencies even amid the canonical material, and often times the
   wildest speculation on the newsgroup makes more sense than what we see
   in the episodes.
   
   Canonical material:
     * Star Trek: Voyager [VOY]
     * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine [DS9]
     * Star Trek: The Next Generation [TNG]
     * Star Trek feature films
     * Classic Star Trek [TOS]
       
   Quasi-canonical material:
     * The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future
     * Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future
     * Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual
     * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual
     * The Making of Star Trek
     * Other "behind the scenes" information from the production crew,
       including:
          + Newsgroup postings
          + Convention presentations
          + Interviews
          + Email conversations
       
   Highly regarded, but non-canonical material:
     * Star Trek: The Animated Series [TAS]
     * Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise
     * Star Fleet Technical Manual
     * Starlog's Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Journal
     * Other "reference" guides
     * Novels, incl. novelizations of films and episodes
     * Blueprints, drawings, photographs, models, etc.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Joshua Bell, [email-masked]