"Mr. Sulu, set a course, warp speed is two" - these words, perhaps, are known to every fan of science fiction. They belong to James Kirk, the captain of the Starship Enterprise from the legendary Star Trek series. According to the plot, the heroes move around the Galaxy hundreds of times faster than light thanks to the warp drive, which bends the surrounding space.
In the distant 1960s, when the series was released on screens, it was perceived as an impossible fantasy. But today many scientists and engineers are seriously talking about the possibility of creating such an engine, and moreover, there are already concrete proposals.
The speed limit of the universe
Our solar system is located in a rather thin section of the Milky Way, with a low density of star clusters. The closest star system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.36 light years from the Sun. On modern rockets, developing a speed of 10-15 kilometers per second, astronauts would have to fly to it for more than 70,000 years!
And this despite the fact that the total diameter of our Galaxy is 100,000 light years. If we cannot overcome even such an insignificant distance by the standards of the Universe, then we should not even stutter about colonization and exploration of deep space.
There is another, more serious obstacle on the way to the stars. It is reflected in Einstein's theory of relativity. Before the theory appeared in 1905, Newton's celestial mechanics reigned supreme in physics. According to it, the speed of light depended on the speed of movement of the observer. That is, if you managed to catch up with the light and move with it, then it would simply stop for you. Later, Maxwell gave this theory a mathematical foundation.
While still a student, Albert Einstein could not accept this postulate - he felt that somewhere there was a mistake. In the end, he found the answer to the question that tormented him. He proved that the speed of light is constant and in no way depends on an outside observer.
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It turned out that it was impossible to catch up with the light. No matter how fast you move, the light will still be ahead. Einstein's famous formula E = ms², where the energy of a body is equal to its mass multiplied by the speed of light squared, literally reads the following: in order to accelerate an object to light speed, an infinite amount of energy is required, which means that an object must have an infinite mass. In fact, a rocket that wants to accelerate to the speed of light will weigh as much as the entire universe!
Of course, in real life it is absolutely impossible to do this, the speed of light is a kind of universal DPS inspector who once and for all set the speed limit.
It would seem that this puts an end to the dream of mankind about flying to distant stars. However, ten years after the publication of special theory of relativity, general relativity appeared, where more extensive comments and additions were given.
In general relativity, Einstein combined space and time. Before that, they were considered different physical concepts. For a better illustration, he compared space-time to canvas. Under certain conditions, this canvas can move much faster than light. However, this did not give an answer to the main question: how, after all, to overtake light?
For nearly 70 years, many researchers have puzzled over this mystery. And one fine day one young scientist turned on the TV and, switching channels, came across a fantastic series. While watching it, it suddenly dawned on him, and he realized how to develop superluminal speed without violating the laws of physics. This scientist's name is Miguel Alcubierre.
Warp Drive
Then, in 1994, Alcubierre studied the theory of relativity at the University of Cardiff (Wales, UK). On TV, he saw the series "Star Trek". The scientist drew attention to the fact that heroes use a space deformation engine, or warp drive, to move in space.
Just as the apple that fell on Newton's head once inspired him to create celestial mechanics, so the TV show inspired Miguel to give birth to a theory that may once and for all put an end to the high-speed "discrimination" of the Universe.
Alcubierre set about calculating and soon published the results. He took as a basis the general theory of relativity, which says that if you apply a certain amount of energy or mass, you can make space move faster than light.
To do this, you need to create a special bubble, or deformation field, around the ship. This warp field will shrink the space ahead of the ship and expand behind. It turns out that the ship is actually not moving anywhere, the space itself bends and pushes the ship in a given direction.
Time and space inside the bubble are not subject to deformation and distortion. Therefore, the ship's crew does not experience any additional overloads, and it may seem as if nothing has changed. In this case, not only astronauts who have passed special medical selection and training, but also ordinary people will be able to fly into space.
If you were to be on the bridge of the ship during its movement at superluminal speed and look at the space around you, the stars would turn into long strokes. But if you look back, you will see nothing but impenetrable darkness, since the light cannot catch up with you.
Alcubierre calculated that a warp drive would allow a speed of 10 times faster than light, however, in his own opinion, nothing prevents an increase in engine power and acceleration to higher rates.
However, when familiarizing himself with the theory of Alcubierre, Sergei Krasnikov from the Main Astronomical Observatory in Pulkovo revealed one feature. The fact is that the pilot will not be able to arbitrarily change the trajectory of the vessel. That is, if, for example, you fly from Earth to Sirius and suddenly remember that you did not turn off the iron at home, then you will not be able to go back. You will first have to fly to your destination, and then return back.
Moreover, you will also not be able to contact anyone, since the warp field completely isolates the ship from the outside world and blocks any signals. Therefore Krasnikov compared a trip on such a ship with a trip in the subway. He called it "FTL subway".
But this is not the main problem. The deformation field itself must have a negative charge. To create it, negative energy is needed, the existence of which has been debated for many years.
What can't be
If gravity is the energy of attraction, then negative energy should have opposite properties and repel foreign objects from itself. But how do you get such energy?
In 1933, the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir suggested that if you take two identical metal plates and place them perfectly parallel to each other at the minimum possible distance, they will begin to attract. As if an invisible force pushes them towards each other.
According to quantum mechanics, the vacuum is not an absolutely empty place; pairs of matter and antimatter particles constantly appear in it, which instantly collide and annihilate. This process takes literally billionths of a second. When they collide, a microscopic amount of energy is released, which creates a nonzero total pressure in an "empty" vacuum.
It is important to bring the plates as close to each other as possible, then the volume of particles on the outside will greatly exceed their number in the gap between the plates. As a result, the pressure from outside will squeeze the plates, and their energy will, in turn, become less than zero, that is, negative. In 1948, an experiment succeeded in measuring negative energy. It went down in history under the name "Casimir effect".
In 1996, after 15 years of experimentation and research, Steve Lamoreau of Los Alamos National Laboratory, together with Umar Mohidin and Anushri Roy of the University of California at Riverside, succeeded in accurately measuring the Casimir effect. It was equal to the charge of an erythrocyte - a red blood cell.
Alas, this is simply monstrously small to create a deformation field, it takes billions of times more. Until it is possible to generate negative energy on an industrial scale, the warp drive will remain on paper.
Through hardship to the stars
Despite all the difficulties in creation, the warp drive is the most likely candidate for the first interstellar flight. Alternative projects, such as a solar sail or a thermonuclear engine, can only reach subluminal speeds, while such as wormholes or stargates are overly complex and take thousands of years to complete.
Today, NASA is most actively developing a prototype of a warp drive, whose specialists are sure that this is more a technical problem than a theoretical one. And a team of engineers is already doing this at Johnson Space Center, where the first manned flight to the moon was once prepared.
According to many experts, most likely the first samples of space deformation technology will appear no earlier than 100 years later, subject to the availability of constant funding.
Say, fantastic? But maybe it's worth remembering that a few years before the Wright brothers took their plane into the air, the eminent English physicist William Thomson said that nothing heavier than air could fly. And 60 years later, the first cosmonaut of the Earth smiled and said: "Let's go!.."
Adilet URAIMOV