The Tachyonics Society of America

The Tachyonics Society of America

Mission Statement

The Tachyonics Society of America is an online association of individuals having a common interest in the hypothetical particle called the "tachyon". The formal mission of the Society is the study of the tachyon.

Purposes

The purposes of the membership are as follows:

(1) To promote the study of tachyons (and of all superluminal phenomena), in both theoretical and experimental contexts, involving no restrictions on disciplinary considerations, with a view to

(a) establishing reliable means of detecting tachyons,

(b) collecting experimental data on tachyon characteristics,

(2) To provide a free online service for all researchers, writers, and other interested individuals to discuss ideas about tachyons, to publish written works about tachyons, and to have a central website at which these and related activities can be pursued, and at which

(a) a relatively comprehensive database on tachyons can be maintained,

(b) information in the database can be readily obtained by anyone with Internet access,

(3) To facilitate the advertising, sale, and dissemination of works (i.e., articles, research papers, books, etc.), and the advertising and/or sale of special products (test equipment, etc.), by way of an easy-to-use website, so that Society members and other interested individuals can benefit by

(a) obtaining free advertising for written works and special products,

(b) supplementing income by marketing such works and products,

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Feedback

Send comments and suggestions to the founder by e-mailing HKurtRichter@aol.com

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About the Founder

H.Kurt Richter

In my own words.

I am an at-large student-member of the American Institute of Physics, holding a 3-year A.S. Degree, with a dual major in Mathematics and Computer Science, and I have accumulated 109 semester-hours to-date towards a B.S. Degree in Physics at an accredited 4-year university. I also have professional certifications in three technical areas (electrical, electronics, refrigeration), and currently obtain leadership roles in technical jobs; having spent 33 years working in such fields as test & measurement, industrial automation, and electrical engineering.

Publicly referred to as a "Renaissance Man" by the faculty of my alma mater, I am also an inventor, a musician, and a wanna-be paperpack writer. For instance, I have invented a number of electronic circuits in the commercial audio category. And I played the electric guitar with nightclub acts for over 20 years in NC, TX, and CO. [I also have about twenty original instrumental rock + jazz fusion compositions.] What is more, I have written three novels in the sci-fi and fantasy genre (not yet published), and have started work on several more (besides the writing I do for my web sites, and in my research).

Interest in math and physics began in my late teens, when I had an idea for a science-fiction story but realized that I should learn more about the sciences than I knew at the time, in order to make my fiction more realistic. And I have been doing library research in mathematics and the sciences ever since; most especially in theoretical physics, although I have also investigated, and still do, many other subjects (including ancient history, mythology, magic & mysticism, unexplained phenomena, etc.).

I came upon the notion that gravity was faster-than-light in my early twenties, and am still working on a formal hypothesis which could someday become an actual theory. Ideas that sprang from the research that I have been conducting on the subject are given in the various pages you are linked to here at this Internet site.

But, since the credentials I have to present are not as impressive as I would like, my hope is simply that my ideas stand on their own merit. Consequently, I leave my words to reveal my character, shall maintain this web-site for publishing my research results, and expect my creations to carry forth my legacy.

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Why I Started This Site

I spent 20 years in the work-force, studying math and physics as a "hobby" while gaining employment in technical fields (going to night school to obtain various certifications), but found a college degree out of my reach (I made too much money to qualify for a need-based grant, but not enough to pay for an actual degree program).

Then, after a move back to my home state, I went long enough without decent work to qualify for a Pell Grant for books and tuition, at which I went to college full-time while my mother provided living support at home (I was and remain unmarried). I then spent 3 years at a 2-year college; obtaining an Associate's Degree with a dual major in math and computers, because it was the closest that this particular school had to what I really wanted, physics.

It happened next that my mother, at my request, obtained a transfer with her employer to another town, in which there is a 4-year university that offers a degree in physics. It would be a hardship, since she did not earn much as the manager of a discount store, but I talked her into it. So we moved, solely for that express purpose, and I transferred to the university; obtaining both grants and loans to pay for it. And I spent 1.5 years in the physics program there - until I ran out of funding.

Sadly, I learned that I was forced out because the Physics department-head, who was also my advisor (but who intentionally did a poor job of it), caused the student-loan officer to deny me an extension on my student-loan, but to which I was fully entitled (having good grades, perfect attendance, and no disciplinary problems), because he had decided that I was not fit to become a physicist - not because of any alleged lack of ability on my part (since I was actually performing well), but because he did not like me, or my ideas, and went out of his way to make sure that I was not going to get a degree at his school.

I admit that I perhaps brought his disdain upon myself, because I was not afraid to question the validity and/or usefulness of what I was going so deep in debt to learn, and he did not take kindly to being questioned; rarely answering any questions, even about work he himself assigned, and whether or not a question was asked in or out of the classroom (quite contrary to what I previously assumed, that teachers are paid teach).

Also, the man is a blatant snob (coming from a well-to-do family), and makes no apologies for it, while I was a poor nobody depending on grants and loans just to be there. And, having endured a year and half under his thumb, it became clear, by the end, that he is the sort to believe that he is doing his profession a service by keeping out the "commoners", at the same time practically paving the way for a young, pretty, 20-something female student, with a rich daddy, and for whom he always seemed to be available, in or out of class, should she have any questions. [Note that I discovered that he was, in fact, giving her the answers to his exams.]

What is more, on three different occasions I had answers to test questions counted wrong when the answers were correct; twice by this man, and once by one of his cohorts (another instructor in his department). And I had to insist that my scores be corrected accordingly. But that does not include points counted off unjustly because I did not do some calculation a certain way, even if I had the correct answer (which happened far too frequently). Though, here too, in one case, I found another student who did the calculation the same way I had done it, but who had not had points counted off. And when I brought the matter up in that student's presence, instead of upgrading my score, the jerk reduced the other student's score too (clearly just to cover his ass)!

And yes, I did report each of these instances the proper administrator, but nothing was ever done.
Indeed, I now know that all a formal complaint does for you is get you labeled as a troublemaker.
So much for "higher education" in the good old US of A.

The man ruined my life.

Consequently, having been prevented from obtaining my B.S. Degree, after 4.5 years of solid effort, I went back into the work-force; only to find that I would consistently be offered less pay to work in the exact same fields I was employed in before going to college!

A rather confusing situation, I must say.

And without the diploma I worked so hard to get, I could not, and cannot today, earn enough to pay for the completion of my desired degree program, in additon to supporting my household (my mother has retired, and is in bad health, and is now my dependent). Yet, though they can stop me from becoming a professional physicist, they cannot stop me from going to the library and learning whatever I can learn there (as long as we have public libraries in this country), or from buying whatever books I can afford to buy, or from keeping abreast with things in the professional journals. And they therefore cannot stop me from being an amatuer physicist.

As such, though they allow me the status of "student member at-large" in the American Institute of Physics (because of my long-standing membership in the Society of Physics Students), I had no other choice for getting my research and ideas published than to do it myself on the Internet.

That is why I started this site.

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My Doctoral Equivalency in Applied Technology

Claim

I hereby claim to have acquired the educational equivalent of a Doctorate of Science degree in the interdisciplinary field of Applied Technology. The validity of this claim may be denied by members of the academic and scientific establishments, but I make it nonetheless. Readers are free to judge for themselves if my claim is justified.

Overview

The following is the justification for my claim to having acquired the estimated equivalent of a Doctorate of Science degree in Applied Technology; calculated from a combination of formal education, on-the-job training, and personal study; converting time studying or training outside a university setting into standard semester hours (sh) according to the basic formula of 3 hours of homework (personal study) per 1 hour of class-time (training) at 3 classes per week (i.e., 9 hours of study and 3 hours of training per week) for each semester (counted as 4 months each) equating to 3 sh per-semester-per-subject; viewing the interdisciplinary area of "Applied Technology" as the subject of concentration, which includes dedicated efforts in mathematics, applied physics, industrial & mechanical engineering, electrical & electronics technology, HVAC&R (heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration), test & measurement technology, and, of course, computing, along with much work in the arts and humanities.

Formal Education

(1) General Educational Development (GED) High-School Equivalency Certification
Description of Course-Work:
Voluntarily left high-school and completed self-study manual and took the exam for GED certificate.
Second highest score in class of 30 from general public. Grade A in writing and science, B or C in other areas.

(2) Course in the National Electrical Code
Description of Course-Work:
1-semester course: pass/fail; passed. Credit = 1.5 sh.

(3) Certification in Radio & TV Repair
Description of Course-Work:
1-semester course, w. lab: pass/fail; passed. Credit = 1.5 sh.

(4) Certification in Standby Generator Servicing
Description of Course-Work:
Professional certification course; 2 weeks full-time training on standby electrical generators. Credit = 3 sh.

(5) Universal-Type EPA-Approved CFC and Refrigeration Certification
Description of Coursework:
EPA certification and refrigeration courses.
Refrigeration Course grade = A. Credit = 3 sh.
EPA Exam Preparation Course pass/fail; passed. Credit = 3 sh.
Official EPA test scores for CFC Certification Exam are:
Part 1, Core, EPA Requirements, 96%
Part 2, Type I Cert., Domestic Refrigeration, 76%
Part 3, Type II Cert., High-Pressure Refrigeration, 92%
Part 4, Type III Cert., Low-Pressure Refrigeration, 80%
EPA Status Awarded: Universal CFC Technician Certification.
[Note: Universal status given only for passing all parts with 70% each, or better.]
Exam graded by State Board of Examiners. Official State certification issued in 1999.

[Note: I had, from age 18, engaged in a great deal of personal study in science & technology before starting college full-time at age 38. And I continued to obtain the equivalent of 1 course per semester in that manner, over-and-above meeting all formal course requirements while in college.]

(6) 3-Year Associate of Science Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science
General Information:
Full-time student for 3 years, including intervening summer sessions; includes 2 years in Mathematics program at an accredited junior college, plus 1 year extra for a 2nd major in Computer Science.
Total college credit earned, 90+ sh.
Final grade-point average (GPA), 3.8 (on scale from 1 to 4).
Minimum credit required for 2-year AS degree, 60 sh.
Scholastic Honors:
Alumni Scholarship (‘94), Graduation Marshal (‘95), Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges (‘96), Outstanding Student Award (plaque, ‘96). Graduated with Honors (class of '96).
Courses Completed at Junior College:
Course [Credit (Grade)]: Analytical Physics I, II, III [2, 3, 3 (A, A, A)], Anthropology [2 (A)], Computer Applications [2 (A)], Keyboarding [2 (B)], Computer Systems [3 (A)], Problem Solving [3 (A)], Visual Basic [3 (A)], C++ [3 (A)], English Composition [2 (B)], General Chemistry I, II, III [3, 3, 3 (A, A, A)], Honors English [4 (A)], Humanities [2 (A)], American Literature [2 (B)], British Literature [3 (B)], World Literature [3 (A)], Algebra & Trig I, II, III [3, 3, 3 (A, A, A)], Calculus I, I, III, IV [4, 4, 4, 4 (A, B, A, B)], Statistics [3 (B)], Physical Education [1 (A)], Karate [1 (A)], World History I, II, III [2, 2, 2 (A, A, A)].

[Note: I spent a tremendous amount of my spare time doing research in math and physics that had little to do with my course requirements at the junior college and at the university; especially during the Summer sessions. But I have counted here only 3 sh worth of those efforts, per semester.]

(7) Undergraduate Course-Work in Theoretical and Applied Physics (at an accredited university)
Student Classification Overview:
Non-traditional student (20+ years in workforce). Transferred as a Junior (due to large number of transfer credits). Counted among Juniors for first semester only, then among Seniors from Spring of ’97 and on.
Spent 1.5 years as a full-time Physics major, from Fall ‘96 to Spring ’98, including Summer sessions.
Course Credit Overview:
Total available transfer credit from AS degree, 85 sh. Maximum transfer-credit applicable to BS degree, 60 sh.
Cumulative university-level course credit to-date, 109 sh. Remaining credit to be earned in major, 9 sh.
My total credit requirement for a BS degree in Physics was set at 140 sh, although minimum credit required for other student's BS degrees (including other physics students) is 120 sh at this university. [Department heads had complete authority to determine total credit requirements individually for each student, with the norm between 120 and 130 semester hours. Inexplicably, I was required to get 140 semester hours, although I encountered no other student during my entire 1.5-year stay who had been saddled with as high a total credit-hour requirement.]
Scholastic Honors:
Member, Society of Physics Students. Member, American Vacuum Society.
Generalized Transferred Course-Work:
Subject, Credit (in semester hours); Computers, 13; Science, 16; Math, 27; General Education, 29.
Courses Completed at the University:
Course [Credit (Grade)], Computer Architecture [4 (B)], Differential Equations [3 (A)], Economics [3 (B)], Electronics [4 (A)], Experimental Physics I, II [1, 2 (A, B)], FORTRAN Programming [3 (A)], German Language I, II [3, 3 (C, C)], Modern Optics [3 (C)], Modern Physics I, II [3, 3 (C, C)].
[Note: "C" grades in Modern Optics and Modern Physics were imposed, despite actual test results, which I had later discovered would have consistently been B or A if my test scores (and only my test scores) were not being manipulated unfairly by the instructors (of which I have documented proof in 3 instances, that I know of). I even reported the situation to the proper university Administrator - but nothing was done about it.]

Calculation of Current Educational Equivalent

Formally, I have only a 3-year AS degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, with additional undergraduate work applicable towards a BS degree in Physics (along with having obtained a few technical certifications).
Note, however, that I have calculated (as shown below) that I have at this time acquired (unofficially) the equivalent knowledge of one who holds a Doctorate in Applied Technology, according to the following sequence: Actual 3-Year Associate of Science Degree, Dual Major in Math and Computers (from formal study),
Minimum credit required = 90 sh;
Equivalent of 4-Year Bachelor of Science Degree, Applied Physics (from combined formal + personal study),
Minimum credit required = 120 sh;
Equivalent of 6-Year Master of Science Degree, Engineering Technology (from combined formal + personal study),
Minimum credit required = 180 sh;
Equivalent of 8-Year Doctorate of Science Degree, Applied Technology (from combined formal + personal study), Minimum credit required = 240 sh.

The calculations are as follows.

From age 18 to age 51 covers 33 years of effort. Count 9 sh per year [formula given earlier (in the Overview)] of personal study (even while in college) at the equivalent of one college course per semester (I actually study much more, but this will suffice as a minimum), and that gives 9 x 33 = 297 sh of credit for self study.
To be fair, we must divide that in half, since about half of this value, or 148.5 sh, corresponds to undergraduate efforts (up to a BS degree), leaving only 148.5 sh for the equivalent of graduate-level studies.
Only 60 sh out of the total 90+ sh I earned for my 3-year AS degree was applied officially towards the BS in physics, which left 30 sh to be counted as credit for self study (actual credits, awarded by an accredited junior college) at the 2-year level, but as "electives" at the undergraduate level (so they cannot be included here).
I estimate, nevertheless, that my technical certifications provide a minimum of 6 sh of self-study credit that can be viewed as representing graduate-level studies.

Having acquired actual cumulative credit of 109 sh (to-date) towards a BS degree in Physics, I have a combined minimum amount of credit, from both formal and self study, of approximately 109+6+148.5 sh = 263.5 sh.
Since minimum credit for a doctorate's degree in a technological field is around 240 sh, and considering the kinds of information I was taking-in on my own, along with on-the-job training in highly technical fields (such as electrical engineering, industrial automation, etc.), I conclude that I have gained knowledge equivalent to an individual who holds a Doctorate of Science degree in Applied Technology.

This is, to be sure, an unofficial estimate (so that my critics are likely to reject it out of hand), but it does effectively describe my accomplishments in the overall acquisition of knowledge.

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Contact via e-mail: HKurtRichter@aol.com

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