I don't think anybody expects a wrap driver to be possible. It's just one of those odd things where the math says something, and it's well work looking at just in case. (Just like negative mass matter is something that nobody expects to exist, but likes to appear on equations here and there.)
That said, I don't follow it closely, but didn't somebody recently worked out one that works without negative mass matter?
>That said, I don't follow it closely, but didn't somebody recently worked out one that works without negative mass matter?
Yes. There was recently a few papers published showing that a static warp field is mathematically possible without negative energy. However, the field doesn't move or impart acceleration on its own. The best you can do is drag the warp field behind your ship with normal thrusters. Such a field seems to be pretty useless right now, but maybe that research will lead to something else in a few years
Perhaps not useless, but definitely not as convenient as we hope warp technology will be someday. Could such a device be used as a way to improve thruster efficiency? If you can drag a large enough warp bubble with conventional thrusters, and it "slopes" space in front of you, could it make moving in the direction of the slope easier so you use less fuel?
I don't remember the details, but they explored some different field geometries which were more useful, but required an impossible amount of energy. Like, more energy than the entire universe.
The static warp field doesn't allow you to go faster than light because it doesn't move relative to the generator. You can drag the field around at sublight speeds but that's about it.
Though IIRC they played around with some different geometries that did move, but the energy required was many times more than the entire universe contains.
Without reading any of the mathematics, I propose the warplev equivalent of maglev trains. We build a long train of these devices that we then turn on and off at the right times in order to propel something. It's genius and I will be making a wikipedia page, .io domain, and putting up an Angelist RUV.
There are generally speaking, two interpretations in scifi. I don't really understand the physics, so apologies if I get it wrong.
1. Better known as the "Alcubierre Drive", Compress space infront of you and expand the space behind. Essentially inching forward like the inch worm. (If we presume that visually, the inch worm stays in the hunched position and slides forward because our eyes cannot see it's movement)
Doing this smoothly in theory lets you accelerate and decelerate infinitely.
2. Warp space infront of you to create gravity, and pull you forward. Essentially, you make a pot hole in space time, and "fall" into it. This is basically the same Alcubierre Drive, but without the expansion at the rear.
2.1: One version holds that pothole at a specified distance infront of the ship.
2.2: The other version creates the pothole, then removes it before you reach it.
I've often wondered about option 2, but wouldn't that be very risky if you were near something/someone and you created a large gravitational field?
Also, if this was common and you had lots of ships warping the gravity field then would that not be some kind of space pollution?
I know space is big and all that, but this seems like an irresponsible option.
Yes actually, it would be. It would also depend on whether you have fine control over the size of the spacetime pothole. It is also possible that the larger nearby gravity well would pull on the pothole.
I like to think that concepts such as "you must be at the edge of the solar system to initiate faster than light travel" or "cannot initiate faster than light within the gravity well of planet" originate here.
I have nothing to backup that theory of course.
As for space pollution, I never really thought of that. But considering some of our observation tools observe 'gravitational waves'? I could imagine another "starlink and light pollution is getting in the way of space observation" situation.
It's pretty much what it says on the tin. A field which warps nearby space into a different shape.
What that means is complicated to explain, but the gist of a warp drive is that you expand space behind you and compress space in front of you. The normal space in between gets pushed forward, ideally at speeds faster than light. There's lots of good explainers on YouTube if you want to learn more.
I always liked the neat dodge of hyperspace proposed by Larry Niven. Idea was that humans never noticed it in their experiments, because they always ran their tests on Earth, too close to a gravity well, where it resolved to a singularity. At this point I believe the hands on the other foot. It's not the speed of light - but causality itself - that's not allowed to be broken by the universe.
That said, I don't follow it closely, but didn't somebody recently worked out one that works without negative mass matter?