Traveling at warp speed is no longer an impressive sci-fi idea, as researchers at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, have suggested a new theory for a warp drive that follows the theories of general relativity, which could change the way space is traveled and pave the way for interstellar missions.
The paper, published in a peer-reviewed journal, presents a “classic warp drive spacetime” that mathematically could work under some conditions. The pioneering model eliminates the hypothetical negative energy and relies on a stable shell of matter and a carefully placed shift vector to warp spacetime around a ship. “This study changes the conversation about warp drives,” said Dr. Jared Fuchs, lead author of the study, further noting that the new model illustrates the potential of warp drives without using science fiction-type materials.
Classically, a warp drive would theoretically enable a spacecraft to travel in space at superluminal velocities by producing a bubble of flat spacetime in front of it, curving space in front, and stretching it behind. The notion was brought to the fore by the Alcubierre Drive, developed by physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994, which promised faster-than-light travel without breaking relativistic constraints, but at the cost of unachievable negative energy.
The new design keeps the spacetime bubble, but does it using positive ADM mass matter, theoretically possible material. The computational device Warp Factory assisted the team in designing the spacetime metrics required by the drive. Co-author Dr. Christopher Helmerich underscored, “Although such a design would still require a considerable amount of energy, it demonstrates that warp effects can be achieved without exotic forms of matter.” These results project a future decrease in warp drive power demands, pointing to a concrete move toward realizing this technology.
While there have been profound theoretical breakthroughs, the actual construction of a functioning warp drive is a gargantuan challenge. The technological and engineering obstacles to realizing such a design are enormous. The theoretical model depends upon a substantially advanced and untested configuration of matter and energy distributions that, at this point, dwarfs our technology.
“While we’re not yet preparing for interstellar voyages, this research heralds a new era of possibilities,” Gianni Martire, CEO of Applied Physics, said in the same statement. “We’re continuing to make steady progress as humanity embarks on the Warp Age.”
This warp drive design is actually a theoretical leap forward, within the bounds of known physics, and is an advance in thought regarding space travel. As Dr. Fuchs and his colleagues mention, their research is a stepping stone, perhaps a far-off harbinger of a new age – an era when humankind can set out into the cosmos beyond our solar system, moving at velocities previously thought impossible.
