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Marcus Casillas Professor Gail Taylor Writing 111 May 18, 2013 How to Travel the Universe: A Study on Warp Drives and Faster Than Light Travel Chewie, make the jump to hyperspace, at Han Solos command Chewbacca reaches for the controls and at the flip of a switch the Millennium Falcon disappears from view, reemerging a short time later on the other side of the galaxy, hundreds of light years away. The idea of traveling faster than the speed of light has fascinated both science fiction readers and writers for years. Traveling faster than the fastest known thing in the Universe would allow us to traverse our galaxy, reaching distant stars and planets otherwise beyond our reach. However, traveling at, or even close to, the speed of light using conventional propulsion is impossible, creating a problem for anyone who wishes to travel at those speeds. This is where the warp drive comes in, making superluminal (faster than light) travel possible. Albert Einsteins theory of special relativity, and the famous equation of Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared (E=mc2), presents the primary roadblock for faster than light speeds. First off the theory of special relativity states that time is relative to an observer. This idea is based off of the principle of relativity based on motion that many of us learn in elementary and high school science class; that velocity is relative to an observer. This means that if Im standing on the sidewalk watching cars pass, the cars seem to moving at a certain

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velocity while I am standing still but, if you switch to the cars perspective, now I (the observer on the sidewalk) appear to be moving. However the same principle could not be applied for the travel of light, which physicists had already established moved at the fixed rate of just under 300,000,000 meters per second, as they understood time to move at a fixed rate, thus taking out the relativity. Einstein hypothesized then that time was not in fact absolute and that, in order to make the relativity work, time would have to move at different rates relative to an observer. Further working out of his ideas, and testing, discovered that time in fact does travel at relative rates and more specifically, travels slower for objects in motion. Here on Earth, this change in time is negligible, not even the fastest super cars or airplanes create a noticeable shift in the passing of time. However for our purposes, this time dilation becomes extremely problematic. By this model then, time would travel at very different rates for the object in motion and the observer. Therefore, although a one light year trip for the Millennium Falcon travelling at light speed will, by definition, take one year according to an observer, the trip will take only about 3 hours to Han, Chewie, and the rest of the crew. This adherence to special relativity therefore makes the 1:1 ratio that time travels at for the crew and the rest of the galaxy, as it does in the films, impossible. However, time dilation is not the only wrench that Einstein throws into the possibility of superluminal travel. For one, Einstein established the speed of light as the universal speed limit. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light because it would violate the causality principle, making the effect happen before the cause. However the limit is also set within the equation of E=mc2 that is so well known. What is less known, however, is that this is only part of the story. The equation fully written out is actually E2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)2 where p equals momentum.

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Therefore the common expression that we recognize only applies to an object that is not in motion, meaning it has no momentum thus the (pc)2 is equal to zero and thus removed. This suggests then that anything with even the smallest amount of mass cannot reach the speed of light because an objects velocity is equal to the speed of light times the ratio of the objects momentum to energy ( ), this means that as velocity approaches the speed of light, this ratio approaches 1 and pc becomes closer and closer to E. But, as long as the object has any mass, the object can never reach the speed of light. It can be understood in mathematical terms as follows: When v = c, pc = E, therefore if v=c, E2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)2 only if m = 0. So, with Einstein effectively raining on the parade of sci-fi fans everywhere, we are left to wonder how we could possibly travel these great distances without violating special relativity. Science fiction writers have done this a number of ways. In Star Wars, the problem is solved by presenting an extra dimension of existence called hyperspace. As opposed to the way that nothing in our known universe (referred to as realspace in the Star Wars model) can travel faster than the speed of light, nothing in hyperspace exists below the speed of light. Meaning therefore that hyperspace does not need to obey the principles of special relativity. In order to exploit this alternate dimension, ships were equipped with hyperdrives which tore through the fabric of space-time, allowing a ship to jump between hyperspace and realspace. Sadly, this technology is far beyond our reach as any claim to the existence of hyperspace is purely speculation and moreover, scientists currently lack the ability to travel into different dimensions (even those proposed to exist in string theory).

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Star Trek presents an alternative method to travelling past the speed of light. The Warp Drive equipped on starships like the USS Enterprise used a reaction of matter and anti matter (specifically deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, and its antithesis antideutrium) to generate a warp field around the ship. This field would distort space-time locally around the craft, contracting it in front and expanding it behind the ship. This warping of space-time means that the ship actually doesnt accelerate at all, it instead effectively pushes and pulls the space around the bubble bringing the destination to the ship. Because the ship is never actually travelling at high speeds within local space, the Enterprise is able to avoid the roadblocks set up by Einstein and special relativity. A living testament to the power of a fan with the proper know-how, physicist Miguel Alcubierre developed a mathematical model, known as Alcubierres metric, based on the warp drives of Star Trek that showed that it was in fact possible for a ship to warp the space around it, traveling at an arbitrarily large speed without violating Einsteins theory of relativity. Research physicist Eric W. Davis described the Alcubierre Drive as surfing through space-time in an interview on G4s Attack of the Show: Think of space as the ocean and Michael Phelps is a starship. He's propelled by fission or fusion rockets any kind of rocket but he's swimming vigorously, leaving planet Earth and he's going to swim all the way to Alpha Centauri, 4.3 light-years away. He's flailing his arms, kicking his feet, expending a great deal of energy and he can't go very fast the resistance of the ocean water is going to keep him limited to below the speed of light. Einstein's special theory says you

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can't go faster than light, you can't even reach it, but you can always stay less than (light-speed). Warp drive is a whole different matter. What you do is use "exotic energy" basically just a fancy word for vacuum energy. You're going to use some quantum energy from the vacuum and you're going to surround your starship with a bubble of this energy and it bends space it creates a surf effect. Michael Phelps is now standing on a surfboard and instead of swimming through space at less than the speed of light, he's surfing on space. Space is like the wave on the ocean water that surfs him to the beach faster than the speed of light. Eric Davis on Attack of the Show

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The Alcubierre Metric (Alcubierre, 2000)

Alcubierre recognized a separate problem arises when his formula is worked out. In order to reach the desired results, negative amounts of energy must be used to power the warp drive along with what Alcubierre describes as exotic matter, that has yet to be discovered. Other scientists have calculated that using Alcubierres model, the warp drive would require an amount of energy approximately equal to the mass energy of Jupiter which we find, by once again using Einsteins formula of E=mc2, comes out to be 1.706 x 1044 joules, about the amount of energy released in a supernova. Luckily further work with Alcubierres model has yielded better numbers. Harold White, a NASA physicist working at Eagleworks lab at Johnson Space Center found that by changing the

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shape of the model originally proposed by Alcubierre from a flat disk to a doughnut shape and oscillating the intensity of the warp field he could significantly reduce the amount of energy required to power the

Early concept art of White's model based on the Alcubierre drive. CREDIT: NASA; Harold White

warp drive, bringing it down from massenergy of Jupiter down to that of the

Voyager 1 space probe. Of course, the 722 kg Voyager still converts to 6.5 x 10 19 joules (65 exajoules) of energy, close to the amount of energy consumed by the United States in a year, but this exponential reduction represents a huge advancement in making the warp drive a legitimate possibility. The next step is for White to return to the lab to test the plausibility of his theories. He plans to run an experiment that would hopefully allow him to create a microscopic disturbance in space time: We're utilizing a modified Michelson-Morley interferometer that allows us to measure microscopic perturbations in space time. In our case, we're attempting to make one of the legs of the interferometer appear to be a different length when we energize our test devices Our initial test device is implementing a ring of large potential energy what we observe as blue shifted relative to the lab frame by utilizing a ring of ceramic capacitors that are charged to tens of thousands of volts. We will increase the fidelity of our test devices and continue to enhance the sensitivity of the warp field interferometer eventually using

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devices to directly generate negative vacuum energy. Harold White, interview with io9.com Whites experiments aim to take what has already been shown to be plausible within theoretical mathematics and prove that it is in fact possible in the practice. He hopes for the experiments to provide what he refers to as a Chicago Pile moment, which stresses the importance of proof of existence, In late 1942, humanity activated the first nuclear reactor in Chicago generating a whopping half Watt not enough to power a light bulb. However, just under one year later, we activated a ~4MW reactor which is enough to power a small town. Existence proof is important. (White, interview 2012) White plans to discuss the findings of these experiments at the 2013 Star Ship Congress hosted by Icarus Interstellar, taking place this August in Dallas, Texas. Of course, many are quick to decry theories so directly out of science fiction and the Alcubierre Drive is no exception. Even before preliminary tests had begun some in the scientific community already pointed to potential flaws in the theory: William Edelstein pointed claimed that ambient gas between stars could vaporize the ship as it travels. Bill Hiscock pointed out that a horizon would be created along the bubble outside of the ship (much like the event horizons that surround black holes) meaning that no light rays can be reach the ship from behind and none could be emitted from the front of the ship because in both cases the light would simply be outrun by it. Serguei Krasnikov noted that because the ship is not touching there is no way to steer or have any control over the direction of your bubble as it hurdles through space at millions of miles per second. (Everett, 119-121) On the other hand Dr. Richard

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Obousy a co-founder of Icarus Interstellar decries the critics of the concepts as he feels their focus on why the technology is impossible hinders its advancement: Its apparent to me that a lot of people seem to want to prove why a technology is not possible, rather than think of ingenious ways to make something possible. Its my conviction that when someone says something is impossible, what they really mean is our current level of science cannot explain this, and I dont have the motivation to explore beyond its boundaries. Richard Obousy Alcubierres warp drive has massive implications for the future of space travel. If Harold White and his colleagues succeed we could be traveling to the edges of the galaxy, shrinking the vastness of the Cosmos to reachable distances allowing scientists, explorers, and even tourists to visit the farthest corners of the Universe. It would bring about a new age of science and technology, a rapid advancement unlike any we have seen. As our space race with the Soviet Union proved, when our space program is at its fullest capacity and funding and in the spotlight, everybody benefits. Not just from the scientific advancements but the dreams of tomorrow and promise of the future. In addition our new ability to travel the cosmos would allow us to visit new worlds similar to our Earth bringing us much closer to first contact and the dream of every science fiction fan.

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Works Cited

Alcubierre, Miguel. "The Warp Drive: Hyper-Fast Travel within General Relativity." (2000)Print.

Dvorsky, George. "How NASA Might Build Its Very First Warp Drive." io9.com. 26 Nov 2012 Web. <http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive>.

Everett, Allen, and Thomas Roman. Time Travel and Warp Drives [Electronic Resource] : A Scientific Guide to Shortcuts through Time and Space / Allen Everett and Thomas Roman. Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2012, 2012. Print.

Fuller, John. "How Warp Speed Works." 7 Mar 2008 Web. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/warp-speed.htm>.

Kaku, Michio. Physics of the Impossible. Doubleday, 2008. Print.

Sansweet, Stephen. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia: the A-Z of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Titan Books, 2009. Print.

White, H. G. "A Discussion on Space-Time Metric Engineering." General Relativity and Gravitation 35.11 (2003)Print.

White, H. G., and E. W. Davis. "The Alcubierre Warp Drive in Higher Dimensional Spacetime." AIP Conference Proceedings 813.1 (2006): 1382-9. Print.