Lightning | SciByte 9

• In the outtakes at the end of the Lighting show Jeremy and I discuss creating a bubble of ‘normal’ space to use a loophole in science to get around the problems with faster than light travel

Bubbles, moving walkways, and holes in space

• Special Relativity forbids objects to move faster than light within spacetime, it is unknown how fast spacetime itself can move
• Can we accordion or fold space, or even punch a hole in space
• Can we create a bubble of ‘normal’ space that we can manipulate through space ‘faster than light’

Alcubierre drive

• Alcubierre warp drive is like one of those moving sidewalks that can be found in some airports, expanding the universe behind you and contracting it in front of you
• The ship itself sits inside a bubble of ‘normal’ space riding like a surfer though the universe

Not so fast Alcubierre

• You need a ring with lots of negative energy wrapped around the ship
• It is still debated in physics whether negative energy can exist
• Classical physics tends toward a “no,” while quantum physics leans to a “maybe, yes.”
• Need the ability to turn this on and off at will
• It brings up time-travel paradoxes

Additional Resources

• The Alcubierre Warp Drive
• NASA : Alcubierre’s “Warp Drive”
• The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity (pdf)
• Visualization of the Warp Drive
• iopscience : Letter to the Editor
• Alcubierre drive
• General relativity