According to “general” relativity, the three spatial dimensions we are familiar with (up-down, left-right, front-back) are inseparable from time. Ten years later Einstein generalized these ideas for accelerating bodies. But by applying a little creativity, Alcubierre identified an apparent loophole.įor physicists, Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity consists of two parts: The “special” theory of relativity, which dates from 1905, deals with the uniform motion of fast-as-light objects. Strictly speaking, the theory states that nothing can travel faster than light. In his doctoral thesis at the University of Wales College Cardiff (now Cardiff University), Alcubierre also worked on the theory of relativity. At the time, Alcubierre was not just a passionate Star Trek devotee. The fact that scientists are dealing with the idea at all today is thanks to a 1994 paper by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre. This is research at the fringe of science: not necessarily wrong but spiced with a large pinch of optimism. Credit: NASA Digital art by Les Bossinas (Cortez III Service Corp)įor that very reason, imaginative physicists have long been pondering the ultimate propulsion system: a bubble in space and time in which a spaceship could dash from sun to sun, just like the USS Enterprise did. From today’s perspective, the negative-energy field would no longer be necessary. The ring around the spacecraft generates a negative-energy field. NASA artist’s 1998 rendition of warp drive travel. The galaxy really is open only to those who travel as fast as light-or faster. But even with the aid of these technologies, you would not get too far in a human lifetime. There are many ideas about how to do that, from laser-accelerated solar sails to nuclear propulsion. One can always dream about establishing colonies in other star systems, but it is not a journey anyone is likely to undertake.īut perhaps one day it might be possible to reduce the travel time. Even with the best available propulsion systems, it would take tens of thousands of years for a human to get there. It takes more than four years for a beam of light to reach Earth’s nearest star Proxima Centauri. There is no doubt that the universe is still far too vast for humans to traverse. One Internet user wrote, “Anyone else feel like they were born 300 years too soon?” A Bubble in Space and Time A discussion on the online forum Reddit attracted 2,700 comments and 33,000 likes. Media outlets all over the world picked up the story, and a dozen journalists asked for interviews. It quickly became clear that Lentz was not the only person dreaming about warp drives. A year later it was published in a physics journal. Lentz put his idea on paper and discussed it with more experienced colleagues. After a few weeks, something occurred to him that everyone else seemed to have overlooked. Then he began to think about it for himself. Lentz read everything he could find on warp drives in the scientific literature, which was not very much. He suddenly had plenty of free time on his hands-and childhood fancies in his head. But then, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Lentz found himself alone in Göttingen, Germany, where he was doing postdoctoral work. dissertation on dark matter and generally became far too busy to be concerned with science fiction. He studied physics at the University of Washington, wrote his Ph.D. “At some point, I realized that the technology didn’t exist,” Lentz says. And Lentz, still in elementary school, wondered whether warp drive might also work in real life. Every few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Jean-Luc Picard would raise his hand and order, “Warp one, engage!” Then stars became dashes, and light-years flashed by at impossible speed. For Erik Lentz, it all started with Star Trek.
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