In short, it requires negative energy densities, which can’t be strictly disproven but are probably unrealistic the total amount of energy is likely to be equivalent to the mass-energy of an astrophysical body and the gravitational fields produced would likely rip any ship to shreds. Indeed, the proposition was mostly just a thought experiment when it was first proposed - not something Alcubierre thought was actually viable technology. Obviously, warping space requires a lot of mass and energy, and ensuring that the space where you are located isn't warped is tricky business. When you think about it, that kind of makes sense. In this respect, the path taken becomes a time-like free-fall.Īlcubierre’s ideas have lead to a number of interesting thought experiments in quantum field theory however, as mentioned above, most scientists think that the technology will never actually work. Essentially, when the drive is activated the spacetime behind expands, while in the front it contracts.

This technology would not actually propel the ship to speeds exceeding light instead, it uses the deformation of spacetime permitted by General Relativity to warp the universe around the vessel.

That seems a little contradictory, doesn't it? After all, we've been told time and again that light is the universal speed limit - nothing in the cosmos can travel faster than it (much less 10 times faster).Īnd herein lies the key to the Alcubierre drive: When you use it, you aren't actually moving through space. In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a new kind of technology that would allow us to travel 10 times faster than the speed of light without actually breaking the speed of light. Alcubierre warp drive via Anderson Institute

Real warp drive ship gif