Quantum accelerator

The quantum accelerator under study.

Captain, we have figured out a way to use quantum field technology to manipulate the speed of events.— Doctor Aronov

A quantum accelerator, also known as the Aronov device, was a device capable of manipulating the relative progression of time through the creation of quantum bubbles. Within the accelerator's bubble, time progressed forward at a much faster rate.

The first quantum accelerator was destroyed in September 2419. Isaac of the USS Orville began studying a new accelerator in late 2420.

Description

John LaMarr presents the internal schematics of the accelerator.

The Quantum accelerator was a conical device. At its base, a light blue quantum field was projected that created a bubble using quantum field technology. The field accelerated only the forward progression of time, not the reverse.

History

Doctor Janice Lee, a research physicist, spearheaded research on the accelerator in the late 2410s at the Epsilon Science Station on Epsilon 2. However, the quantum accelerator had attracted the attention of the Krill, who began spying on the project starting through Doctor Derek Ashton in March 2419. By September, Lee's team successfully constructed a working prototype.

When the USS Orville visited the station that month, Derek hailed a Krill destroyer to raid the facility and capture the device. Doctor Lee was killed by her own device in the ensuing chaos. The Orville's away team managed to abscond with the accelerator to their ship, leading to the Battle of Epsilon 2. The accelerator was destroyed in battle when the Orville used it to destroy the enemy vessel.

A new accelerator was built in late 2420, which Isaac used to analyze and reconform the "hyperspace metrics in Doctor Aronov's temporal equations."

Alternate timeline

In an alternate timeline where Ed Mercer did not become captain of the Orville, the ship was captained by Griffith. While the exact details are unclear, the crew was able to obtain and protect the quantum accelerator. Isaac studied the device on his own as he did in the original timeline. However, he did not complete the calculations before the Battle of Earth, forcing John LaMarr to download Isaac's consciousness to finish the calculations and use the device to send Doctor Claire Finn back in time to restore the original timeline.

Production

The quantum accelerator destroys an enemy ship by rapidly aging a redwood seed into a massive tree.

The Quantum Accelerator is unnamed in the original April 2016 pilot script, described only as a "strange-looking device." The quantum bubble was called a warp field emitted by the device's "muzzle."

Creator Seth MacFarlane originally sketched a design of the accelerator with pencil and paper. The look is mostly the same, with many wires extending from the top of the device. The accelerator was built by propmaster Bryan Rodgers. Rodgers' construction schematics were published by editor and associate producer Tom Costantino on his Twitter.

The accelerator is listed as the "Temporal Accelerator Device" in The World of the Orville.

Appearances

The Quantum Accelerator generates a quantum bubble.

• Episode 1x01: Old Wounds
• Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain
• Episode 2x13: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
• Episode 2x14: The Road Not Taken
• Episode 2.5x05: Digressions, Pt. 1
• Episode 2.5x06: Digressions, Pt. 2
• Episode 3x06: Twice in a Lifetime
• Episode 3x10: Future Unknown (mentioned only)