Alternate view column av81 university of washington. Width in pixels px height in pixels px copied to your clipboard unable to copy. Space contraction in front of ship space expansion behind ship location of ship proper dr. When i said i could cut this in half, its not entirely cut in half. Harold sonny white nasa johnson space center 2101 nasa parkway, mc ep4 houston, tx 77058 email. Both alcubierre and natario named their theories as warp drives due to the resemblance between their mathematical formalisms and the star. A simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work.
Abstract it is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and without the intro. Thinking of trying out your newlyinstalled ftl3000 alcubierre warp drive to get you there in no time. A warp drive built using metamaterials could reach a quarter of light speed. It is the warp bubble that travels past the speed of light. The alcubierre warp drive discovered in 1994 and the natario warp drive discovered in 2001. Sep 05, 2000 the first warp drive was introduced by alcubierre 172. 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. Reduction energy in warped region in alcubierre warp drive. Classical and quantum gravity, volume 11, number 5. 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. Little is known about the interactions between massive particles and the alcubierre warp drive, or the e. And that is in an asymptotic minkowski space we would not need any wormhole to make a. Jan 20, 2017 in physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive.
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. The alcubierre warp drive is an idea for achieving fasterthanlight travel suggested by the mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre in 1994. Feb 16, 2017 a simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work. In this project, we propose that a utilization of optimization techniques will provide the appropriate geometry of the warp bubble. We examine geodesics representative of the paths of null and massive particles. I say almost to hedge my bets, but i dont expect to make a retraction any time soon.
The warp drive seems to be very attractive because allows. Whites team has been using a test instrument called a whitejuday warp field interferometer in order to try and. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and. Jan 19, 2017 in physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive. List of figures 1 geometric interpretation of the four dimensional spherical coordinate system for the schwarzschild. The alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional space.
Department of physics and astronomy, university of wales, college of cardi. Alcubierre see bibliography used, as the first mathematical example of a warp drive, the function. Pdf reduction energy in warped region in alcubierre warp drive. The alcubierre drive is fasterthanlight travel possible. Warp bubbles may carry us faster than light big think. In 1994, physicist miguel alcubierre suggested a way to go faster by hitching a ride on a bubble in the spacetime fabric using an alcubierre drive. Aug 12, 2019 the alcubierre warp drive is an idea for achieving fasterthanlight travel suggested by the mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. Hear why he doubts it will ever be a reality, and learn about his current research on gravitational waves. It describes a spaceship in a warp bubble characterized by a local expansion of space behind the bubble, and an opposite contraction ahead. Little is known about the interactions between massive particles and the alcubierre warp drive, or the effects of an accelerating or decelerating warp bubble. This paradox can be resolved by putting the alcubierre metric into canonical form using rindlers method and extracting the potential. Is the alcubierrefroning drive a legitimate possibility.
There are at the present moment two known solutions. 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. Alcubierre 1 and others have shown how a suitable shaping of spacetime curvature can be used to generate a warp bubble, where the contents of the bubble can be transported to arbitrarily large speeds, even exceeding the local speed of light, without suffering inertial. The resulting distortion is reminiscent of the warp drive of science fic tion. The alcubierre drive is often called a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity, but this is inaccurate. Sep 29, 2010 that suggests a way of building a warp drive. The canonical form of the alcubierre warp drive metric is considered to gain insight into the mathematical. The alcubierre warp drive is an idea for achieving fasterthanlight travel suggested by the mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. The alcubierre warpdrive metric 1416 as derived from einsteins general relativity field equations, rgr g 2.
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. Alcubierre developed a model metric within the domain of general relativity that uses this physics loop hole and has almost all of the desired characteristics of a true interstellar space drive, much like what is routinely depicted in science fiction as a 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 in higher dimensional spacetime h.
The alcubierre drive works by moving space around your ship, not through acceleration. The canonical form of the alcubierre warp drive metric is. 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. Nasa researchers recently revisited the alcubierre warp drive and concluded that its power requirements were not as impossible as once. The alcubierre warp drive using lorentz boosts according to the. In 1994, the mexican physicist, michael alcubierre.
Particularly summarizing the paper called the warp drive. Here, using fluid dynamic analogues, solutions of einsteins equations of general relativitygr that describe spacetime distortions and stresses caused by an acceleratingvehicle are replaced by solutions of the navier stokes ns. Warp drives are solutions of the einstein field equations that allows superluminal travel within the framework of general relativity. The paper explores the possibility of simulating some features of warp drive. Genk, american institute of physics, melville, new york, 2006. Alcubierres warp drive geometry seemingly represents the ultimate dream for interstellar. In physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive. Its always a welcome thing to learn that ideas that are commonplace in science fiction have a basis in science fact. We present an analysis of the classic alcubierre metric based on conformal gravity, rather than standard general relativity. A solution of general relativity is presented that describes an alcubierre 1 propulsion system in which it is possible to travel at superluminal speed while reducing the energy density and energy by an arbitrary value, and eliminating the event. Spann vermillion williams 6 with the introduction of a warp drive as a scientifically proven idea, the main characteristic of application of alcubierre will be spacetime travel. This is a lorentzian manifold which, if interpreted in the context of general relativity, exhibits features reminiscent of the warp drive from star trek.
The alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional spacetime. Las vegas, nv 89120 september 2004 special report approved for public release. The warpdrive mechanism would not know whether to go forward or backward along the xaxis. The main characteristics of the resulting warp drive remain the same as in the original study by alcubierre, that is, effective superluminal motion is a viable outcome of the metric. The alcubierre drive allows superluminal communication, and according to wikipedia, that is equivalent to time travel. The alcubierre warp field and anti matter 2020 youtube. The alcubierre metric defines the socalled warp drive spacetime. Dtic copy afrlpredtr20040024 afrlpredtr20040024 advanced propulsion study eric w. Nasa reveals latest warpdrive ship designs iflscience.
Planning a little space travel to see some friends on kepler 22b. This column was written and submitted 41596 and is ed 1996 by john g. The alcubierre warp drive seems to be very attractive because allows interstellar. This deformation moves around, and there are no upper speeds dictated by general relativity. Classical and quantum gravity letter to the editor. An explanation of the alcubierrewhite warp drive youtube. Alcubierre warp drive time travel anderson institute.
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 original author of the warp drive metric, miguel alcubierre, is a huge star trek fan w. Mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre wrote a paper laying the mathematical and scientific foundation for a real life warp drive that wouldn. Warp drive, general relativity, extra space dimensions, dark energy, cosmology. If a spaceship could be designed in such a way that it created a warp bubble, then the space in front of the ship would be compressed and the space behind would expand. Feb 22, 2020 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. Hyper fast interstellar travel within general relativity. Archived pdf from the original on 23 february 2011. Then we will have all the paradoxes of time travel. 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 imagined a small volume of flat spacetime in which a spacecraft sits, surrounded by a bubble of spacetime that shrinks in the direction of.
Afrlpredtr20040024 advanced propulsion study eric w. We show that for particular choices of the shaping function, the alcubierre metric in. Inspired by star trek, distinguished physicist miguel alcubierre developed the general relativitybased model for warp drive 20 years ago. Classical and quantum gravity letter to the editor related. He attempts to perturb the geometry of the warp bubble i. In 2000, miguel alcubierre, a mexican astrophysicist, published a solution to einsteins field equations that would allow for the contraction and expansion of spacetime to create a warp drive. Constructing an alcubierre warp drive ella alderson medium. 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. Conformal gravity and the alcubierre warp drive metric. Alcubierre metric s s s s s dr df r r x v warp drive metric. Aug 25, 2018 in 1994, mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre wrote a paper laying the mathematical and scientific foundation for a real life warp drive that wouldnt interfere with general. Davis2 15231 pilgrim oaks lane, league city, tx 77573, usa 2inst. 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. With alcubierre warp drive awd speeds 10x the speed of light, this travel distance would be 2.