Was the Ash Twin Project really necessary? [Plot hole]

[Gergely]

Hypothesis: Creating a 22-minute-long interval is possible using the energy of the Sunless City. No need to blow up the sun.

I do not know if anyone came up with this before me.

Theoretically the energy in the High Energy Lab should be enough to send information back an arbitrary long period of time.

The summary, is that it should be possible to send information back in time by chaining small low delay hops to create a 22 minute time loop.

If you create a pair of "high energy" black and white holes and install a signal repeater that immediately repeats any signal it receives from the white hole back into the black hole, information could theoretically travel back from any point in the future, as long as the signal repeater is active all the way back to when it was activated. (Ignoring the opening of the black and white holes.)

The time travel interval of the experimental high energy black-white holes appears to be at least 0.7 seconds.

Assuming you can repeat the signal within that time period, the signal enters the black hole earlier after each transmission and therefore exits the white hole earlier for the next repeat. Eventually the signal arrives before the repeater is activated and then can be interpreted and used to initiate the next loop.

The repeater only ever has to repeat the signal once. It deactivating immediately after repeating one signal would not cause a paradox and here is why:

Traveling back in time causes the timeline to branch off, with the new branch not being required to again send the exact same signal back in time. One learns this through the way the time loop allows different events to pass each time. You can receive "echo" signals that will never be sent, or as Gabbro puts it: "we’re receiving memories of things that will never happen to us".

This leads to a huge plot hole. The question is:
Why did the Nomai risk annihilating themselves and build the Ash Twin Project instead?

Potential answers:
This theory is not sound.
They did not have the technology to repeat signals within a short enough time.
This method can not be used to send enough information back in time to adjust the parameters of the probe launching experiment.
There is something I misunderstood about the Ash Twin Project.
The Nomai simply did not think of this. Not even Idaea.

[ReverendTed]

Originally posted by Gergely:

They did not have the technology to repeat signals within a short enough time.

If we're going to try to justify it, this feels like the most likely to me.
With the volume of information they'd need to send, they might not be able to receive it and resend it fast enough for it to use the HEL in a meaningful way.

Also, one thing that I don't think is ever really explained is HOW they send the information through the ATP black hole. How's it sent, and how is it received on the other end?
That could also be a weak point in using the HEL for it.

[Gergely]

Originally posted by ReverendTed:

With the volume of information they'd need to send, they might not be able to receive it and resend it fast enough for it to use the HEL in a meaningful way.

I wonder how much information is necessary then. I imagine they need it for three purposes:

• To generate a different random firing direction each loop.
  
• To be aware of any error or infinite loop and be able to stop it.
  
• To tell whether the probe finds the Eye or not before it is launched. (Or you can stop the loop the exact moment the probe finds the eye, sacrificing the probe.)
  

[Perseus]

Originally posted by Gergely:

Hypothesis: Creating a 22-minute-long interval is possible using the energy of the Sunless City. No need to blow up the sun.

I do not know if anyone came up with this before me.

Well, not exactly, but close : https://steamcommunity.com/app/753640/discussions/0/5221372225831787704/