The scientific community has made a new breakthrough in realizing the warp drive, a device that could enable humans to travel through space at speeds faster than light.
According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, an object cannot travel faster than the speed of photons in the universe; thus, the faster-than-light technologies often depicted in movies remain purely fictional. However, new research brings us one step closer to making what was once deemed impossible a reality.
Faster-than-light technologies depicted in films remain purely fictional.
Led by Professor Jared Fuchs from the field of applied sciences, the new research published in the journal Basic and Quantum Gravity provides a new solution in developing warp drives.
The Concept of Traditional Warp Drive
In science fiction, a warp drive can bend the fabric of spacetime, allowing a spaceship to move by contracting the spacetime in front of it while expanding the region behind it. Essentially, the ship with a warp drive does not move; instead, the space around it contracts and expands, allowing the ship to “fly” through space.
Warp drive: How the spaceship travels in the sci-fi movie Star Trek – (Photo: Trekky0623).
Theoretically, the ship would move faster than the speed of light without violating Einstein’s theory of relativity. However, scientists believe that to bend spacetime, or in other words, to generate and utilize gravitational forces, we would need a special form of matter with “negative energy density.”
The Strange Concept of “Negative Energy Density”
In our daily lives, we only experience positive energy. Even in a vacuum (a space devoid of matter), there exists a small amount of positive energy, known as “vacuum energy” or “zero-point energy“.
This conclusion is based on the principle of quantum fluctuations (also referred to as vacuum fluctuations/zero-point fluctuations) in quantum physics. The principle indicates temporary changes in the energy of any point in space, described by the uncertainty principle proposed by physicist Werner Heisenberg.
3D model depicting the phenomenon of quantum fluctuations – (Photo: Derek Leinweber).
This means that even a vacuum environment exhibits energy fluctuations. The existence of “negative energy density” remains a hypothesis and does not yet fit within the current physical model we possess. The laws of thermodynamics, alongside the conditions necessary for energy to exist within the context of general relativity, do not allow for a significant “negative energy density” to form.
Some theories predict the existence of a small negative energy density under specific conditions. However, its effects remain minimal, only observable at a microscopic scale, and cannot bend spacetime.
A New Direction for Warp Drive Technology
The recently published research has opened up a new possibility for warp drives. Applied scientists propose a device called “constant-velocity subluminal warp drive“, which translates to “practical warp drive with constant speed“, characterized by properties consistent with relativity.
The new engine model does not require energy that science has yet to explain. Instead, it utilizes a combination of old and new gravitational techniques to create a “warp bubble” enveloping the spacecraft, enabling it to travel at high speeds while adhering to physical laws.
“This new research shifts the discussion around warp drives“, stated Professor Fuchs, the lead author of the study. “We demonstrate that a warp drive may no longer be related to science fiction.“
Illustration of the warp drive.
As mentioned earlier, the new engine model leverages both old and new techniques, proven feasible by the Warp Factory physics model developed by Professor Fuchs’s team. This is the first time a research group has proposed a warp drive that can operate in this manner.
“Although our technology still requires a significant amount of energy to operate, it shows a feasible warp effect without needing a novel energy form“, said Professor Christopher Helmerich, co-author of the research. “These findings pave the way for a new future, reducing the requirements needed to design a warp drive.“
Unlike current propulsion technologies, the warp drive devised by the research team does not exert G-forces on astronauts. The research team claims this type of warp drive could be constructed using conventional materials. They are currently listing the immediate challenges and collaborating with various parties to produce a prototype device.
Should we one day truly possess a functional warp drive, a new era of space travel will dawn, allowing humanity to proudly declare that “we represent a stellar species.”
