TechRepublic has a rather bold article who’s complete title is Paging Zefram Cochrane: Humans have figured out how to make a warp bubble
It’s written with Star Trek fans in mind.
A team of scientists working with DARPA, including warp drive pioneer Dr. Harold G “Sonny” White, may have just taken us one step closer to that reality with their announcement that they’ve discovered a space-warping bubble, the fundamental thing needed for the faster-than-light travel of the Star Trek universe.
However, it does ground the article to physics and current understandings.
This is a pretty complicated notion that involves a ton of math, but at its most basic level, a warp bubble is a bit of space that’s contracted in the front and expanded in the back. This shape in theory pushes the bubble, and its contents, forward at speeds surpassing the speed of light without ever violating the laws of physics: You’re not technically traveling faster than light, you’re surfing a bubble of condensed space.
Warp bubbles were long the domain of science fiction, until theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre came along and theorized his Alcubierre warp drive in 1994, which maintained general relativity while allowing for faster-than-light travel. The key upon which it rested, was an energy-density field that was configurable into a vacuum bubble that would make anything inside it have negative mass.
And brings us to the present.
Fast forward to 2021, and Dr. White, whose 2012 paper was written while he worked at NASA as Advanced Propulsion Theme Lead, is doing research funded by DARPA on objects called Casimir cavities. These cavities are formed of two parallel plates with a pillar running between them. These things are small — mere microns in size — and they do something really interesting: Create a negative vacuum between the plates when exposed to a regular vacuum.
“You would anticipate zero pressure outside and zero pressure in the cavity, but what we find when we measure is negative pressure in between the plates,” Dr. White said.
“What we’re trying to do is explore the quantum vacuum at a fundamental level,” Dr. White said. “We think there’s a bit more to these vacuums than we currently know. Some of the unknown characteristics could be used to create some really useful technologies.” Hence DARPA’s interest.
HT/MOSH
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What a fluff article from TechRepublic with a hugely misleading title!
From the article itself, Dr. White said:
So, the basis for the title Humans Have Figured Out How to Make a Warp Bubble is built on what one, or several, “scientists” think about what we don’t know, with attendant speculation that what we don’t know (the unknown characteristics) could be used to create a “useful technology” that might be used to create negative mass, something that has never been observed in nature.
If that is “figuring out” how to make a warp bubble . . . well, I am speechless.
I seriously hope that DARPA is not throwing taxpayer money down this wormhole, pardon the pun.
Once again the abstract mathematics and blackboard theory prevail over physics. The problem with this variety of “warp drive” isn’t so much that Casimir effect works only on nanoscale distance between the plates, but on thinking that “fabric of spacetime” is something tangible, real, physical. Something that can warp, bend, expend. In reality space and time aren’t real or physical, but together with things like length, height width and others are a mathematical constructs. Space is one of the properties of the matter, but not the matter itself because it doesn’t have what material things have – internal structure like particles, atoms, molecules. That’s why space can’t be warped and time can’t dilate.
Jojo rabbit concluded:
“That’s why space can’t be warped and time can’t dilate.”
Not so Jojo:
a) astrophotography of distant galaxies that create gravitational “lensing” effects (well documented . . . look it up) clearly demonstrates that space can indeed be warped, and
b) experiments using a particle accelerator back in 2014 confirmed the “time dilation” effect predicted by Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity — https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/einsteins-time-dilation-prediction-verified/
a) The lensing effect could be caused by reasons other then gravity. It could be refraction of the light going through plasma halo around the distant galaxy.
Here are some links to a videos with better explanations
https://youtu.be/B_ixkOI4k8c
https://youtu.be/fePQdJNVF9g
b) time is measured by some kind of a clock. The thing is that in this and other experiments scientists use a set of two clocks to see the difference. One is stationary and the other is moving. As soon as you change any parameters on one of the clocks (mass, acceleration, gravity etc.) you should see the difference. If you use a clock to prove dilation of time you will have to determine the nature and mechanics of interaction between not material time and very material clock.
a) Almost any event could have more then just one explanation. Lensing effect isn’t an exception. The light could pass through the plasma halo of another galaxy and be refracted. Here is a link to a video with better explanations
https://youtu.be/B_ixkOI4k8c
b) I checked your link and there they are talking about a set of two “clocks”, one is stationary and the other is moving. If one of them is moving it means that parameters (mass, acceleration, angular momentum etc.) for this clock are different as to compare to stationary one. Why would you be surprised if they “tick” at different rate?
The thing is that if you’re using clocks to prove something about time – you will have to show the mechanics of interaction between not material time and very material clock.
The next day, his hat was found on the lab floor, but he could not be found anywhere and was never seen again!
Space = nothing, or better, null. So condensed space is nothing. At best, “space” is just a human imparted coordinate system. That’s it. So I don’t expect to see a “warp drive” if the underlying theory depends on condensed nothing.
Here’s a YouTube video on the same subject. It points out that it’s not likely for a long time that we’ll be using one.
REAL Warp Drives? NEW research proposes a solution!
More coal in the boiler Scotty!!!