I think warp 10 equals infinite speed and there are warp factors higher than 10 that correspond with a finite speed as we see in All Good Things. These two aren't necessarily contradictory in the same system. All it requires is that 'warp' is not seen as a measure of speed, but of 'subspace manipulation'.
I once read an explanation that went like this. Zephran Cochrane invented warp. Basically, when you increase the energy you pour into the warp field, you can warp space to a greater degree. It was discovered there are fixed points in the energy-space warpage graph that are inherently more efficient than all others, and these preferable speeds later became known as warp 1, 2, 3, etc. The speeds at these points was roughly a cubical function of the energy. So a cubical open-ended warp scale was introduced.
In later years it became apparent that beyond warp 9, there was no energy efficient 'warp 10' point, but 'only' an ever-increasing amount of energy input for an ever-increasing warpage. So, warp 10 would be 'infinite speed' and to reach warp 10 would require an infinite amount of energy. (at least, till this magical form of dilithium was discovered in Threshold , if one chooses to not ignore that episode).
This situation is strangely comparable to 20th century Einsteinian physics. In a manner of speaking the speed c also is 'infinite speed'- in the sense that all points in the universe can be reached in zero time from the reference system of the object traveling at c . And it also would require an infinite amount of energy to reach c.
But it was exactly this barrier that was circumvented by Cochrane in 2063 that started the entire warp scale to begin with. So why couldn't a similar thing be true for the warp 10 'barrier' ?
Instead of trying to use brute force to come ever closer to warp 10, perhaps there's a way so simply delve into a deeper domain of subspace, with a more advanced warp engine, heralding a entirely new subspace domain to exploit. In this new domain there could again be energy efficient points, denoted by warp 11, 12, 13, etc.
Only these would be much more efficient than the points in the 1st subspace domain.
For example, warp 11 could yield the same effective speed as warp 8. But with a lot lower energy expenditure and less stress on the hull. Warp 12 could be similar to warp 9.6. Warp 13 to warp 9.95. But whereas warp 9.995 would require a tremendous amount of energy and cause extreme stress on the hull, warp 13 would be a lot easier on the engines. And so on.
I once read an explanation that went like this. Zephran Cochrane invented warp. Basically, when you increase the energy you pour into the warp field, you can warp space to a greater degree. It was discovered there are fixed points in the energy-space warpage graph that are inherently more efficient than all others, and these preferable speeds later became known as warp 1, 2, 3, etc. The speeds at these points was roughly a cubical function of the energy. So a cubical open-ended warp scale was introduced.
In later years it became apparent that beyond warp 9, there was no energy efficient 'warp 10' point, but 'only' an ever-increasing amount of energy input for an ever-increasing warpage. So, warp 10 would be 'infinite speed' and to reach warp 10 would require an infinite amount of energy. (at least, till this magical form of dilithium was discovered in Threshold , if one chooses to not ignore that episode).
This situation is strangely comparable to 20th century Einsteinian physics. In a manner of speaking the speed c also is 'infinite speed'- in the sense that all points in the universe can be reached in zero time from the reference system of the object traveling at c . And it also would require an infinite amount of energy to reach c.
But it was exactly this barrier that was circumvented by Cochrane in 2063 that started the entire warp scale to begin with. So why couldn't a similar thing be true for the warp 10 'barrier' ?
Instead of trying to use brute force to come ever closer to warp 10, perhaps there's a way so simply delve into a deeper domain of subspace, with a more advanced warp engine, heralding a entirely new subspace domain to exploit. In this new domain there could again be energy efficient points, denoted by warp 11, 12, 13, etc.
Only these would be much more efficient than the points in the 1st subspace domain.
For example, warp 11 could yield the same effective speed as warp 8. But with a lot lower energy expenditure and less stress on the hull. Warp 12 could be similar to warp 9.6. Warp 13 to warp 9.95. But whereas warp 9.995 would require a tremendous amount of energy and cause extreme stress on the hull, warp 13 would be a lot easier on the engines. And so on.
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