Is the alcubierre warp drive a doomsday weapon or our passport to the universe. Alternate view column av81 university of washington. The expectation value of the stressenergy tensor of a free conformally invariant scalar field is computed in a twodimensional reduction of the al. I say almost to hedge my bets, but i dont expect to make a retraction any time soon.
In our first video, the alcubierrewhite warp drive, we explained how a warp drive works, at least in theory, but how about in practice. The alcubierre drive or alcubierre warp drive or alcubierre metricreferring 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 alcubierreby which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable energy. While the mechanics work with einsteins general theory of. The alcubierre drive or alcubierre warp drive is an idea for a fasterthanlight travel engine. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and. In physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive. The local field may then propagate the back to other sources such as the vacuum fluctuations or the universe as a whole, alcubierre warp drive solution alcubierre 1994 has proposed a metric that appears to allow travel faster than the speed of light. Designed by matt ellis, alcubierre is a geometric sans serif typeface stepping in the foot prints the original font ikaros. The alcubierre drive allows superluminal communication, and according to wikipedia, that is equivalent to time travel. The first warp drive was introduced by alcubierre 172. A simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work. 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. Is the alcubierrefroning drive a legitimate possibility.
Librivox free audiobook electratone guitar effects arts development council of georgias podcast engaged. 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. This column was written and submitted 41596 and is ed 1996 by john g. Then we will have all the paradoxes of time travel. Nasa researchers recently revisited the alcubierre warp drive and concluded that its power requirements were not as impossible as once. Alcubierre has shown that a ship using an alcubierre drive travels on a freefall geodesic even while the warp bubble is. The alcubierre warp drive using lorentz boosts according to the. The alcubierre drive is often called a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity, but this is inaccurate. Using the advantages to make a clean minimal font, it works for a variety of uses. It is the warp bubble that travels past the speed of light. The canonical form of the alcubierre warp drive metric is considered to gain insight into the mathematical.
Davis2 15231 pilgrim oaks lane, league city, tx 77573, usa 2inst. Miguel alcubierre, a mexican physicist, proposed this warp drive in 1994 as a way to travel. 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 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. Quantum effects in the alcubierre warp drive spacetime abstract. Alcubierre see bibliography used, as the first mathematical example of a warp drive, the function. This example is to illustrate the fact that while the alcubierre drive is theoretically plausible and mathematically correct, not every scientist working in general relativity accepts the concept. I guess what im asking rather is how fast can it go assuming we solve all the problems with it, not just the energy generation which, from my admittedly shallow understanding of it, i had thought to be the primary hurdle to. Named after theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. Meaningful learning 2017 ipa journal performance engineering of software systems alfs motivation and mini sermons for yes even you. The alcubierre warpdrive metric 1416 as derived from einsteins general relativity field equations, rgr g 2. The alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional spacetime h.
Alcubierre recently exhibited a spacetime which, within the framework of general relativity, allows travel at. Little is known about the interactions between massive particles and the alcubierre warp drive, or the e. Pdf it is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and without the. However, scientists reworked alcubierres equations and concluded that, by oscillating the warp bubble and altering the shape of the vessel, the amount needed to create a warp bubble is reduced. Luckily for vulcans, tatooinians and any acquaintances on kepler 22b, the alcubierre warp drive is still very much theoretical. The alcubierre warp drive quantified foliation of spacelike hypersurfaces in the context of proper time and spatial coordinates but required, at the minimum, nonbaryonic exotic matter to be utilized in any imaginable manner and neither cern nor any other particle accelerator has released any monumental findings as of late. The 1975 star trek star fleet technical manual suggests that the essential concept is the. Alcubierre typeface is available for free for commercial and personal use. Pdf an examination of warp theory and technology to determine.
Alcubierre s warp drive geometry seemingly represents the ultimate dream for interstellar. Warp drive moves by warping space to move an object instead of increasing the kinetic energy of the object t. The alcubierre metric, also known as the alcubierre drive or warp drive, is a speculative mathematical model of a spacetime exhibiting some features reminiscent of the fictional faster than the speed of light warp drive from star trek. Alcubierre drive simple english wikipedia, the free.
Now whip wildly via a gravitomagnetic force in a rotating superconductor while standing by for alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional spacetime. 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 fasterthanlight although not in a local sense see below in 1994, the mexican physicist miguel alcubierre proposed a method of stretching space in a wave which would. The alcubierre warp drive seems to be very attractive because allows interstellar space. An alcubierre drive is a theoretical and i mean very theoretical device that would enable faster than light travel without specifically breaking relativity. The alcubierre drive works by moving space around your ship, not through acceleration. The pioneering paper by alcubierre has started a new field of research and in a. The team has attempted to slightly warp the trajectory of a photon, changing the acubierre it travels in a certain area, and then. 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. The alcubierre warp drive is an idea for achieving fasterthanlight travel suggested by the mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. The proposed mechanism of the alcubierre drive implies a negative energy density and therefore requires exotic matter. It describes a spaceship in a warp bubble characterized by a local expansion of space behind the bubble, and an opposite contraction ahead.
The main principle of this idea is by creating an energydensity field lower than that of a vacuum that is, negative mass to make the space in front of the ship. Abstract it is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and without the intro. Department of physics and astronomy, university of wales, college of cardi. Harold sonny white nasa johnson space center 2101 nasa parkway, mc ep4 houston, tx 77058 email. The alcubierre warp drive allows a spaceship to travel at an arbitrarily large global velocity by deforming the spacetime in a bubble around the spaceship. The mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre created this idea using albert einsteins field equations in general relativity. Building a warp drive updated version in description. The original author of the warp drive metric, miguel alcubierre, is a huge star trek fan w.
The concept of a warp drive proposed by alcubierre, and natario does not allow for a ship itself to exceed the speed of light. The prospects for a realistic engineered warp drive are currently within the realms of scientific speculation. In particular, alcubierre has shown that a ship using an alcubierre drive travels on a freefall geodesic even while the warp bubble is. An explanation of the alcubierrewhite warp drive youtube. And that is in an asymptotic minkowski space we would not need any wormhole to make a. There is currently no theoretical upper limit to the alcubierre drive.
The resulting distortion is reminiscent of the warp drive of science fic tion. Some remarks on a new exotic spacetime for time travel by free fall. Pbs space time is the alcubierre warp drive possible. However, while this may be a or rather, another strike against the alcubierre drive, it doesnt really answer the question. Hyper fast interstellar travel within general relativity. The alcubierre drive, alcubierre warp drive, or alcubierre metric referring to metric tensor is a. The paper explores the possibility of simulating some features of warp drive. Little is known about the interactions between massive particles and the alcubierre warp drive, or the e ects of an accelerating or decelerating warp bubble.
The alcubierre warp drive is a theoretical tool that would allow for spacecraft to travel long distances in space rapidly, by deforming the spacetime continuum in a bubble around the spaceship. Alcubierre is known for the proposed alcubierre drive, a speculative warp drive by which a spacecraft could achieve fasterthanlight travel. Alcubierres warp drive geometry seemingly represents the ultimate dream for interstellar. In our first video, the alcubierre white warp drive, we explained how a warp drive works, at least in theory, but how about in practice. It does this by moving the space around a craft rather than moving the craft itself.
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