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Questions tagged [warp-drives]

warp drives are generic conceptual space travel mechanisms that try to work around physical limits in the speed of propagation of light imposed by special relativity. Usually they resort to speculative science (exotic matter), or phenomena that are not yet well understood or is hard to make validation experiments (non-eternal rotating black holes)

1 vote
0 answers
46 views

What is a good way to visualize the movement of an Alcubierre drive? [closed]

So I know that an AD works by pinching space-time in front of the ship and expanding it behind the ship. A good way to describe gravity is having a blanket stretched out on all four corners and ...
buiud's user avatar
  • 51
3 votes
3 answers
355 views

Poor man's Alcubierre drive?

In general relativity,  the fundamental notions are the curvature (Ricci tensor) and the stress energy tensor. Energy density and curvature are connected .  The Casimir vacuum between parallel plates ...
Cristian Dumitrescu's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
138 views

Question about the travel time of a ship "using" a warp drive metric

I - The Warp Drive metric: The Warp Drive is a geometry in a spacetime $(\mathcal{M},g)$ given (in geometrized coordinates $c=G=1$) by the following metric tensor: $$ ds^{2} = -dt^{2}+ (dx-v_{s}f(...
M.N.Raia's user avatar
  • 3,085
1 vote
2 answers
176 views

Warping Space Time By Focusing on Getting Smaller Rather Than More Energy?

So all energy/mater warps space-time, right? However, whenever we talk about the human manipulation of space-time it is a far-off goal requiring nothing short of tremendous amounts of energy and ...
lwadz88's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
2 answers
304 views

Minimum amount of negative energy required in warp drive spacetimes

In the pioneering work of Alcubierre, to power a warp drive-like geometry it is necessary to employ an amount of negative energy larger (in absolute value) than the whole observable universe mass. A ...
Rexcirus's user avatar
  • 4,963
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

No FTL information implies no FTL travel?

The general consensus in the scientific community is that it is impossible to transmit information faster than light. There is also speculation that it might be possible to open wormholes or travel ...
Beefster's user avatar
  • 191
3 votes
2 answers
967 views

How can the Alcubierre drive itself move faster than light?

Assume that we have constructed an Alcubierre drive (we somehow managed to overcome all the difficulties). Now we want to want to move an object from galaxy A to galaxy B. We place it in the ...
foolo's user avatar
  • 143
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Einstein field equations to the Alcubierre metric

I was wondering how Alcubierre derived the metric for the warp drive? Sources have said it's based on Einstein's field equations, but how did he go from this to the metric?
Lord Farquaad - E's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
134 views

Does localized space contraction occur?

There's the general space expansion due to dark energy and it acts in areas that aren't gravitationally bound. There's gravitational distortion of space around massive bodies, which also adds space. ...
SF.'s user avatar
  • 2,988
2 votes
1 answer
79 views

Question about literature of Alcubierre's drive

In the last words of the prepaper*, Mr Alcubierre says: As a final comment, I will just mention the fact that even though the spacetime described by the metric (8) is globally hyperbolic, and ...
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

If the Higgs Boson and Higgs Field could be manipulated, could that potentially make $m=0$ in all physics equations? [closed]

The Higgs Field and Higgs Boson are theorized to be responsible for mass, or $m$. If these could be manipulated, altered, or controlled for, if the Higgs Field could somehow be parted, would this ...
Justin Thyme's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
356 views

How would items consumed by an Alcubierre Drive warp bubble pass?

Sorry in advance for my lack of physics knowledge, but I have a question as relates to the theory of Alcubierre drives and warp bubbles. If I understand this I might be able to "get it". Let's ...
DB10029's user avatar
  • 23
4 votes
2 answers
5k views

Alcubierre-White warp drive energy consumption

I can't find any place that gives a number other than for a $10c$, 8 lightyear trip being something like 68 exajoules (off the top of my head, might be wrong). I'm sure the math would tell me this if ...
Durakken's user avatar
  • 165
-1 votes
2 answers
174 views

Can Alcubierre Space Drive function in space time within event horizon of a Black Hole?

Alcubierre Drive compresses space in front and propagates as such but in a singularity where space is untraversable is propagation possible? If so can you prove it?
Bhavam Vidyarthi's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
138 views

Can spacetime warp at a rate faster than light?

If you could decrease the distance between here and the nearest star by, say, four light years, wouldn't it take four years for that distance to disappear? For this reason, wouldn't so called "warp ...
Sagierian's user avatar
  • 303

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