Dilithium (Star Trek)
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In the '' Star Trek'' fictional universe, dilithium is an invented material which serves as a controlling agent in the matter-
antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
reactors. In
the original series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distingui ...
, dilithium crystals were rare and could not be replicated, making the search for them a recurring plot element. According to a periodic table shown during a '' Next Generation'' episode, it has the
atomic number The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every ...
87, which in reality belongs to francium, and the
chemical symbol Chemical symbols are the abbreviations used in chemistry for chemical elements, functional groups and chemical compounds. Element symbols for chemical elements normally consist of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet and are written with ...
Dt. In reality,
dilithium Dilithium, Li2, is a strongly electrophilic, diatomic molecule comprising two lithium atoms covalently bonded together. Li2 is known in the gas phase. It has a bond order of 1, an internuclear separation of 267.3  pm and a bond energy o ...
(Li) is a
molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...
composed of two
covalently bonded A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms ...
lithium atoms which exists naturally in gaseous lithium. Dilithium is depicted as a valuable, extremely hard
crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...
ine mineral that occurs naturally on some planets.


Use

The fictional properties of the material in the authors' guide ''The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'' (1991) explain it as uniquely suited to contain and regulate the annihilation reaction of matter and antimatter in a starship's warp core: In a high-frequency electromagnetic field,
eddy current Eddy currents (also called Foucault's currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a magnet ...
s are induced in the dilithium crystal structure which keep charged particles away from the crystal lattice. This prevents it from coming in contact with
antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
when so energized, hence never annihilating, because the antimatter particles never actually touch it. In the original series, dilithium crystals were rare, and crystals made by replicator were unsatisfactory for use in warp drives. Hence story lines based on the need for natural dilithium crystals for interstellar travel – much like real-world equivalents such as oil – made deposits of this material a highly contested resource between fictional factions in the stories, and as such, dilithium crystals have been used by writers to introduce interstellar conflict more than all other reasons combined. As depicted on the show, the streams of
matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...
(
deuterium Deuterium (or hydrogen-2, symbol or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being protium, or hydrogen-1). The nucleus of a deuterium atom, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one ...
gas) and
antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
(anti-deuterium) directed into crystallized dilithium are unbalanced – there is usually much more matter in the stream than antimatter. The annihilation reaction heats the excess deuterium gas, which produces plasma for the
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
(s) and allows
faster than light Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...
travel. In addition,
film set A set is artificially constructed scenery used in theatre, film and TV. In the latter two cases there are many reasons to build or use a set instead of travelling to a real location, such as budget, time, the need to control the environment, or ...
s representing the crawl-spaces for the inner workings of starships tend to be depicted as adjacent to the "EPS" conduits that channel plasma to critical ships' internal systems.


Fictional properties

Dilithium is a member of a so-called "hypersonic" (
hyperon In particle physics, a hyperon is any baryon containing one or more strange quarks, but no charm, bottom, or top quark. This form of matter may exist in a stable form within the core of some neutron stars. Hyperons are sometimes generically re ...
ic?) series of elements, according to a fictional periodic table graphic presented in episodes of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). The material is suspected by its fictional users of existing in more dimensions than the conventional three + one dimensions of
spacetime In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differ ...
, and that this somehow is related to its unconventional or paradoxical properties. The dilithium mineral structure is 2(5)6
dilithium Dilithium, Li2, is a strongly electrophilic, diatomic molecule comprising two lithium atoms covalently bonded together. Li2 is known in the gas phase. It has a bond order of 1, an internuclear separation of 267.3  pm and a bond energy o ...
2(:)l diallo silicate 1:9:1 hepto ferranide, according to the authors' guide '' Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'' (1991). In respect of the fictional replication technology used as background for the Trek universe, although low-quality artificial crystals can be grown or replicated, the synthetic dilithium crystals can only regulate a limited amount of power without fragmenting, and are largely unsuitable for use in warp drives.


See also

* List of ''Star Trek'' materials


Footnotes


References


External links

*
"The Mineralogy of ''Star Trek''"
{{Star Trek Fictional materials Star Trek terminology