There is currently no theoretical upper limit to the alcubierre drive. Classical and quantum gravity, volume 11, number 5. The painful truth about nasas warp drive spaceship from a. A short video clip of the hypothetical effects of the warp drive. The alcubierre drive alcubierre warp drive or alcubierre metric is a fascinating idea that would allow a spaceship to travel faster than light which seems to violate einsteins law of relativity. For more info about the alcubierre drive see harold whites paper at nasa warp field mechanics 101. The alcubierre drive, alcubierre warp drive, or alcubierre metric referring to metric tensor is a speculative idea based on a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity as proposed by mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable energydensity field lower. The alcubierre drive, at its core, is just a deformation added on flat spacetime as a bump function it is everywhere flat except for a compact region of spacetime. The alcubierre drive, alcubierre warp drive, or alcubierre metric referring to metric tensor is a speculative idea based on a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity as proposed by mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable. He attempts to perturb the geometry of the warp bubble i. It is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and without the introduction of wormholes, it is possible to modify a spacetime in a way that allows a spaceship to travel with an arbitrarily large speed. Thinking of trying out your newlyinstalled ftl3000 alcubierre warp drive to get you there in no time. Hyper fast interstellar travel within general relativity.
On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and. Classical and quantum gravity letter to the editor. From what i understand of the mathematical contrivance. By a purely local expansion of spacetime behind the spaceship and an opposite contraction in front of it, motion faster than the speed of light as seen by observers outside the disturbed region is possible. Printed in the uk letter to the editor the warp drive. The alcubierre warp drive a history and analysis marquin spann, david vermillion, and devon williams. The alcubierre warp drive is a very interesting arena for thought experiments to try to better understand general relativity and quantum field theory, but it should give you zero hope for actually. Department of physics and astronomy, university of wales, college of cardi. Will the alcubierre drive proposed by miguel alcubierre.
While summarizing the paper we will focus on the key aspects. Inspired in part by the drive of like name in the star trek. Alcubierres warp drive geometry seemingly represents the ultimate dream for interstellar. Unfortunately, coverage of that nasa press release has been along the lines of book your tickets now, rockets are going to obsolete by next year. Understanding the star trek and alcubierre warp drives will we ever have the most coveted technology of them all. Alcubierre is known for the proposed alcubierre drive, a speculative warp drive by which a spacecraft could achieve fasterthanlight travel. Cardiff cfi 3yb, uk received 19 january 1994, in final form 24 february 1994 abstract it is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and. Miguel alcubierre sulfones are produced by reacting an organic compound rx where x is a substituent on the organic radical r replaceable by so2 ion in an aprotic organic medium which may be the compound itself, with so2 ions produced by electrolysis upon. The alcubierre metric, also known as the alcubierre drive or warp drive, is a speculative mathematical model of a spacetime exhibiting features reminiscent of the fictional warp drive from star trek, which can travel faster than light although. A simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work. Miguel alcubierre maveric universe wiki fandom powered. However, just as happens with wormholes, exotic matter. Their combined citations are counted only for the first article.
Mexican physicist, and star trek fan, miguel alcubierre published a paper on the warp drive. Alcubierre drive clarification on relativistic effects. Miguel alcubierre and jose natario the warp drive as a solution of the einstein field equations of general relativity that would theoretically allow to travel faster than light was discovered by the. The alcubierre warp drive is an idea for achieving fasterthanlight travel suggested by the mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre in 1994. In this project, we propose that a utilization of optimization techniques will provide the appropriate geometry of the warp bubble. According to one researcher in britain, fasterthanlight travel using the kind of warp drive used on the uss enterprise could be achieved without changing the laws of physics. Ribeiros page on warp drive theorya short video clip of the hypothetical effects of the warp drive. Particularly summarizing the paper called the warp drive. Surfing to the stars on warped space said the creators of star trek apparently knew a thing or two. The original author of the warp drive metric, miguel alcubierre, is a huge star trek fan w. In physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive.
Pdf an examination of warp theory and technology to. Carroll also says the concept of a warp drive is not crackpot miguel alcubierre. The alcubierre warp field and anti matter 2020 youtube. This column was written and submitted 41596 and is ed 1996 by john g. Alcubierre warp drive metric considered most advanced derived from einsteins general relativity field equations by miguel alcubierre, in 1994 stretches space in a wave. When i said i could cut this in half, its not entirely cut in half. By a purely local expansion of spacetime behind the spaceship and an opposite contraction in front of it, motion faster than the speed of light as seen by observers outside the. Miguel alcubierre the new scientist article science. In the warpdrive study, the authors laid out several wellestablished ideas in physics. Alcubierre see bibliography used, as the first mathematical example of a warp drive, the function. Planning a little space travel to see some friends on kepler 22b. Harold white has built an interferometer to try and measure a warp bubble.
All conventional advanced propulsion physics technologies are limited to. Does the alcubierre drive have a theoretical upper speed. Harold sonny white nasa johnson space center 2101 nasa parkway, mc ep4 houston, tx 77058 email. To read alcubierres original warp drive paper, click here. The warp drive metrics, in a cartesian type coordinate chart are given by the line element x, y, and z are the components of a vector field defined in euclidean 3space. The proposed warp drive or warp bubble miguel alcubierre has proposed was solved using einsteins general relativity, but it violates all the standard energy conditions, weak, dominate, and strong. Government warp drive research borders on impossible. He manipulated einsteins equations of general relativity to make a warp field emerge regardless of whether other laws of physics would allow it. The alcubierre drive or alcubierre warp drive or alcubierre metric, referring to metric tensor is a speculative idea based on a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity as proposed by theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable energydensity field lower than that of vacuum that is. An explanation of the alcubierrewhite warp drive asteronx.
The fun part is that this idea and proof is actually driven from a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity. Is the alcubierrefroning drive a legitimate possibility. Pbs space time is the alcubierre warp drive possible. The alcubierre warp field as described by miguel alcubierre would help us surpass the speed of light many times which means that if we had a ship that could go 10 times the speed of light, it. I say almost to hedge my bets, but i dont expect to make a retraction any time soon. With alcubierre warp drive awd speeds 10x the speed of light, this travel distance would be 2.
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