For thirty years, physicists have considered the possibility of creating a unique propulsion system, a so-called warp drive. But this is not an engine in the usual sense of the word.
This hypothetical device could compress space-time in front of a spacecraft, allowing it to fly at superluminal speeds. This may sound like science fiction, but physicists believe that warp engines could theoretically exist and that someone would use them to move through space.
These could be potential highly evolved aliens. The authors of a study published in the Open Journal of Astrophysics presented a way to detect such an engine in space.
It is believed that warp drive creates a warp bubble around the spacecraft. Actually, the ship itself isn’t moving anywhere, but the bubble is moving, thanks to the compression of space-time in front of the ship. This allows you to reach speeds higher than the speed of light.
In theory, warp drive requires exotic matter and negative energy to function. Opponents of this idea believe that such an engine cannot exist because it violates the known laws of physics.
On the other hand, even if it is possible to create a warp engine, it is unclear how to control it and deactivate the warp bubble when it reaches its destination.
The authors of the new study believe that warp engines could theoretically exist and are already in use, and that the consequences of ceasing their operation could be traced.
That is, this hypothetical device itself can be detected. Physicists created simulations that revealed the possible effects of warp drives on spacetime.
Physicists believe that warp drive should release gravitational waves, or ripples, in the fabric of space-time that cause mergers of black holes or neutron stars.
These waves can be detected by gravitational wave detectors on Earth, but more sensitive instruments need to be developed. Physicists say the necessary technologies already exist.
The reception of a unique gravity signal will therefore indicate that warp engines really exist. Simulations have shown that when a warp drive stops or slows down, it releases a wave of negative energy, followed by waves of positive and negative energy.
This process leads to an increase in overall energy and could be further evidence of how warp drive works, as the energy waves will interact with ordinary matter.
So far, humanity does not have the necessary technologies even for rapid manned flights to the farthest reaches of the solar system, not to mention reaching the nearest stars.
Even at the speed of light, a spacecraft would need at least four years to reach the nearest triple system, Alpha Centauri. By the way, as Focus already wrote, scientists have opportunities to quickly travel to this galaxy.
Therefore, for interstellar travel it is necessary to create technologies that allow spaceships to fly at superluminal speeds. In this case, the flight to the nearest stars will take months instead of years.
But all this still remains only theoretical reflections of physicists or the basis for creating plots by science fiction writers. Will a warp drive ever emerge? There is no exact answer. Does it even exist somewhere in space? Maybe.
