What is the Alcubierre drive and what does it mean?
Hypothetical mode of transportation by warping space. Two-dimensional visualization of an Alcubierre drive, showing the opposing regions of expanding and contracting spacetime that displace the central region. The Alcubierre drive, Alcubierre warp drive, or Alcubierre metric (referring to metric tensor) is a speculative warp drive idea based on
Is there an upper limit to the energy of an Alcubierre drive?
Because of a funny little quirk of relativity, there is no upper limit to the amount of energy a Alcubierre drive could pick up. A long trip could vaporize entire planets upon your arrival. The researchers are beginning a new round of number crunching to see how bad the problem is.
How does an Alcubierre drive destroy a star?
To see how the Alcubierre drive could devastate an entire star system, you have to know a little about how it would work. The ship would consist of a central pod, and a large flattened ring around it (pictured below). The ring would have to be made of an as-yet unidentified kind of dense exotic matter capable of bending space-time.
When did Miguel Alcubierre create the warp drive?
In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a radical technology that would allow faster-than-light travel: the warp drive, a hypothetical way to skirt around the universe’s ultimate speed limit by bending the fabric of reality.
Is the Alcubierre drive compatible with Einstein field equations?
Although the metric proposed by Alcubierre is consistent with the Einstein field equations, construction of such a drive is not necessarily possible. The proposed mechanism of the Alcubierre drive implies a negative energy density and therefore requires exotic matter or manipulation of dark energy.
How does farnes’theory relate to the Alcubierre drive?
Farnes’ theory relies on negative masses that behave identically to the physics of the Alcubierre drive, providing a natural solution for the current “crisis in cosmology” due to a time-variable Hubble parameter. As Farnes’ theory allows a positive mass (i.e. a ship) to reach a speed equal to the speed of light, it has been dubbed “controversial”.
How is the Alcubierre metric used in general relativity?
Alcubierre metric. The Alcubierre metric defines the warp-drive spacetime. It is a Lorentzian manifold that, if interpreted in the context of general relativity, allows a warp bubble to appear in previously flat spacetime and move away effectively faster than lightspeed.