How Warp drive works

[KhanSolo]

So I'm writing a paper about potential methods for reaching faster than light speeds. The first thing that came to mind was warp theory, of course. I've done tons of research on the actual science of it (alcubierre's warp theory, special and general relativity, Einstein's equations concerning light speed, all the works) I guess I'm just fuzzy on how star trek makes warp travel work. I know trek uses diliithium crystals to power warp cores, however, what I've read points to the theoretical use of dark matter. Any thoughts?

 

[drt]

They're pretty fuzzy about it on Star Trek as well, the newer series use the matter/antimatter reaction to power "warp coils" which in turn establish the "warp field" that allows faster than light travel - but that's about the extent of any explanation.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I always wondered what actually propelled the ship once a warp field was created.

One episode of TNG seemed to show the warp field (sort of) as a rotating torus, no?

 

[Mytran]

You may be thinking of TNG's Where No One Has Gone Before, when Wesley does some computer simulations early in the episode. But yes, the graphic do show that its the constantly renewing shape of the Warp Field that propels the ship forward.

 

[Nebusj]

They're pretty fuzzy about it on Star Trek as well, the newer series use the matter/antimatter reaction to power "warp coils" which in turn establish the "warp field" that allows faster than light travel - but that's about the extent of any explanation.

That's about as much as they've shown, yeah. Though the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine did use a warp field thingamabob to make the station light enough to move around, in a manner that looked (to me) strikingly like James Blish's spindizzy drives, used to hurl cities and planets around in the Cities In Flight novels.

(In them, the rationale was that electromagnetism and rotation could be transferred into gravitational control and momentum, which is one of those SFnal ideas that seems nifty enough it ought to have worked, although of course, it doesn't. Blish grafted his spindizzy drives into some of the short story adaptations and Spock Must Die and at least I see its ghost haunting the stage when warp fields come into play. In the Original Trek they might have just been using Dean Drives for as far as we can tell.)

 

[C.E. Evans]

I always wondered what actually propelled the ship once a warp field was created.

One episode of TNG seemed to show the warp field (sort of) as a rotating torus, no?

One idea that's been floated about is that the warp nacelles continually generate multiple layers of warp field energy from fore-to-aft, pushing the ship forward.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

So I'm writing a paper about potential methods for reaching faster than light speeds. The first thing that came to mind was warp theory, of course. I've done tons of research on the actual science of it (alcubierre's warp theory, special and general relativity, Einstein's equations concerning light speed, all the works) I guess I'm just fuzzy on how star trek makes warp travel work. I know trek uses diliithium crystals to power warp cores, however, what I've read points to the theoretical use of dark matter. Any thoughts?

I think they're basically making it up. Don't give the writers too much credit for scientific accuracy. Note that Alcubierre's warp drive wasn't derived until 1993/94, when TNG had only one season left. So, it's not like TNG took inspiration from this. In fact, he notes in his paper that the mechanism is conceptually similar to the warp effect in TNG.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "Einstein's equations concerning light speed." If you mean the Lorentz transformations (and special relativity as a whole), then they don't tell you anything about moving faster than light.

 

[Ronald Held]

So I'm writing a paper about potential methods for reaching faster than light speeds. The first thing that came to mind was warp theory, of course. I've done tons of research on the actual science of it (alcubierre's warp theory, special and general relativity, Einstein's equations concerning light speed, all the works) I guess I'm just fuzzy on how star trek makes warp travel work. I know trek uses diliithium crystals to power warp cores, however, what I've read points to the theoretical use of dark matter. Any thoughts?

There are many papers on wormholes, GR warp drive, light sail propulsion.

 

[Romulan_spy]

One idea that's been floated about is that the warp nacelles continually generate multiple layers of warp field energy from fore-to-aft, pushing the ship forward.

I seem to recall the old TNG technical manual explaining that each warp coil generates a single warp field. So you can create multiple layers of warp fields by energizing multiple warp coils. If you energize each coil in rapid succession from fore to aft, each warp layer would "push" against the layer behind it, thus creating a forward thrust.

 

[C.E. Evans]

One idea that's been floated about is that the warp nacelles continually generate multiple layers of warp field energy from fore-to-aft, pushing the ship forward.

I seem to recall the old TNG technical manual explaining that each warp coil generates a single warp field. So you can create multiple layers of warp fields by energizing multiple warp coils. If you energize each coil in rapid succession from fore to aft, each warp layer would "push" against the layer behind it, thus creating a forward thrust.

It also implied that a (post-Cochrane era) ship travels through the subspace domain while at warp.

It's possible that within its warp envelope, a ship never actually crosses the speed-of-light threshold but does appear to be doing so to an outside observer.

 

[StarCruiser]

Probably the most famous paper published on the subject (science-wise) was Miguel Alcubierre's from 1994 (wow - over 20 years ago now...I'm old).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

 

[SicOne]

How does it work? The captain points or gestures towards the viewscreen and says, "Engage".

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It also implied that a (post-Cochrane era) ship travels through the subspace domain while at warp.

Aren't subspace domains finite in area, whereas hyperspace was always indicated to be infinite (at least in B5)?


It's possible that within its warp envelope, a ship never actually crosses the speed-of-light threshold but does appear to be doing so to an outside observer.[/QUOTE]

Like Scotty said "It never occurred to me to think of SPACE as the thing that was moving" ?

 

[C.E. Evans]

It also implied that a (post-Cochrane era) ship travels through the subspace domain while at warp.

Aren't subspace domains finite in area, whereas hyperspace was always indicated to be infinite (at least in B5)?

It depends on what theory you subscribe to. My above response was to one suggested in the old TNG Tech Manual that after Cochrane's original engine, improvements led to later warp engines being able to bypass the speed-of-light threshold and "explore the mysterious realm of subspace that lay on the other side."

But that's just one idea. Of course there are others.

It's possible that within its warp envelope, a ship never actually crosses the speed-of-light threshold but does appear to be doing so to an outside observer.

Like Scotty said "It never occurred to me to think of SPACE as the thing that was moving" ?

I think that was in regards to a particular in Scotty's transwarp beaming formula, but the idea that a ship stays well below lightspeed within its warp envelope (and avoids things like time dilation and other undesirable consequences of superluminal flight/attempted flight) has been bandied about here and there for a long time, IIRC.

 

[Ithekro]

The question then becomes, if a starship does not actually move at faster than light speeds inside the bubble, what is causing the stress that could tear her apart at high warp speeds?

 

[Hando]

The question then becomes, if a starship does not actually move at faster than light speeds inside the bubble, what is causing the stress that could tear her apart at high warp speeds?

Maybe there is no such thing as a warp bubble. It may be just a sensory illusion, just a way to describe a non-identified phenomenon.


But I think that the stress is due to the number of warp fields that pass the ship.
Higher speed -> more warp fields generated per second -> higher stress.

By the way, is warp a Fundamental force?

 

[C.E. Evans]

The question then becomes, if a starship does not actually move at faster than light speeds inside the bubble, what is causing the stress that could tear her apart at high warp speeds?

It could be unsafe engine stress and/or subspace geometry stress on the warp envelope.
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/_...ha/en/images/d/de/Enterprise_D_warp_field.jpg

Although I think in most instances of a ship being pushed beyond the red line, she really wouldn't fly apart but just burn out her engines and end up going nowhere until they were fixed. Someone saying that the ship would fly apart may be more of an exaggeration to emphasize it wasn't good for the engines to be at a certain speed, IMO.

 

[Ithekro]

I seem to recall something about a stress limit or a point where the hull integrity would fail if the ship made more than Warp Factor 14.1. I think it was Spock coming up with the numbers to define Scott's worries. It has been a few years since I watched that episode though.

By Picard's time it is hard to grasp when something would "fly apart" as Warp 9.6 - Warp 9.999....whatever became more undefinable as more and more nines were added.

 

[Mytran]

OTOH, the collateral damage of two huge warp engines "burning out" may be enough to destroy the attached starship.

 

[JES]

Yeah, like overheating the engines. Maybe if they get too hot, the fuel source (warp plasma) ignites, or gets too hot that the forcefields can't contain it? I'm sure it would be bad if it leaked out, and probably would burn or melt stuff that was never intended to come into contact with the stuff.