The authors of a new study published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity provide a theoretical basis for warp drives, suggesting that the technology for extremely high-speed space travel will not remain inaccessible to humanity forever, reports Room.
Fans of science fiction are probably familiar with warp drives. These hypothetical engines control the fabric of spacetime, compressing it in front of the spacecraft and expanding it backward. This creates a kind of warp bubble that allows the spacecraft to travel at the speed of light or even faster.
Thirty years ago, physicist Miguel Alcubierre published a groundbreaking paper describing how a real warp drive might work. But this propulsion system required negative energy, that is, an exotic substance that may or may not exist.
It also suggested the use of dark energy, that is, a mysterious force that apparently causes the accelerated expansion of the universe.
The authors of the new study suggest that a true warp drive would not require exotic negative energy at all. According to scientists, this research changes the understanding of warp drives, as they were able to create the first of its kind model of such a device, and it proves that warp drives are not completely relegated to science fiction.
According to the scientists, their model uses “a complex mix of traditional and new gravity techniques to create a warp bubble that can move objects at high speeds without exceeding the limits of known physics.”
Although the explanations of the new model for ordinary science enthusiasts are very complex. For example, the scientists write in the study that “the solution consists of combining a stable shell of matter with a displacement vector distribution that closely matches well-known warp drive solutions such as the Alcubierre metric.” This is the name of the warp drive proposed by Alcubierre.
According to scientists, warp engines are exotic solutions to Einstein’s theory of relativity that offer a faster way to travel through space. The authors write that their “research shows that classical warp-drive spacetime can be brought to meet the energy conditions by adding a shell of ordinary matter with a positive mass consistent with the theory of relativity.”
Scientists have shown in their model that their warp drive cannot reach speeds higher than the speed of light, although it can approach this speed (300,000 km/s).
Even if other scientists confirm that the math presented in the new study is correct, humans are still a long way from being able to create a true warp drive. The study authors recognize this and believe their results could be the first step toward fast interstellar flight.
Scientists believe that in the future it will be possible to create a real warp drive that would not violate the rules of classical physics, but would allow movement at sub-light speeds through space.
