Scientists Predict Warp Drive Travel Between Galaxies: A Real-Life 'Star Wars' Reality?
- EXPLORE FURTHER: Ways humans might journey millions of light-years to far-off worlds
Anyone who was deeply fascinated as a child Star Wars will experience the excitement of witnessing Han Solo and Chewbacca initiate the inaugural jump of the Millennium Falcon into hyperspace.
In the movies, hyperdrive engines enable vessels such as the Falcon to traverse the universe at speeds exceeding that of light, reaching far-off planets within mere minutes.
However, as enthusiasts mark 'Star Wars Day' on May 4th, specialists assert that much of this advanced technology goes beyond mere science fiction.
Scientists believe that a genuine 'warp drive' in reality might enable spacecraft to leap between galaxies similar to what is depicted in Star Wars.
Instead of using fuel as rockets do to propel the spacecraft through space, warp drives have the potential to alter and extend spacetime, effectively bringing the destination nearer.
Professor Tim Dietrich, a specialist in gravitational physics at Potsdam University, explained to MailOnline: "One major appeal of employing a warp drive is its ability to enable nearly instantaneous travel between two locations."
'Thus, theoretically, it could facilitate interstellar travel, akin to depictions in science fiction literature.'
Nevertheless, experts caution that an actual warp drive would be much less feasible and considerably riskier compared to the hyperdrives depicted in movies.
What does a warp drive entail?
As per Einstein, masses cause spacetime to curve and warp, similar to how weights placed on a rubber sheet create distortions.
Other masses on the sheet then fall into these 'spacetime curves', creating the effects of gravity.
In 1994, a scientist by the name of Miguel Alcubierre realised the physics of Einstein's spacetime allowed for the creation of a radically new type of engine.
Dr. Katy Clough, a cosmologist at Queen Mary University of London and a collaborator with Professor Dietrich, explained to MailOnline: "A warp drive is a theoretical mechanism that could enable a spaceship to journey between points A and B by altering the fabric of space-time."
Conventional rockets achieve acceleration by combusting and expelling fuel, enabling them to increase their velocity for quicker travel over longer distances.
A warp drive essentially shortens the space in front of the vessel and extends the area behind it, enabling the ship to travel from point A to B without requiring acceleration.
Similar to how the hyperdrive functions on the Millennium Falcon, a warp drive generates a 'warp bubble' of curved spacetime surrounding the vessel.
The vessel stays inside a level area of spacetime at the center of the bubble and is merely transported alongside it as the bubble travels.
Dr. Clough states, "While this may seem like something out of a sci-fi story, the concept that space and time are malleable and capable of being distorted is indeed real, serving as the foundation for Einstein’s theory of general relativity."
Could a warp drive enable travel among the stars?
The challenge of traveling between star systems akin to the spacecraft in Star Wars lies in the fact that the universe has a speed limit.
In addition to asserting that warp drives could be physically feasible, Einstein's theories also state that nothing can travel quicker than the speed of light, which is roughly 300,000 kilometers per second.
That means it would take over four years to reach Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth at a distance of 4.3 light-years, even travelling close to the speed of light.
Journeying to the center of the Milky Way would require approximately 26,000 years, which is far from the instantaneous travel depicted in movies.
The advantage of employing a warp drive is that a spacecraft could potentially circumvent this velocity limitation by taking advantage of an anomaly within general relativity theory.
The growth of spacetime does not adhere to a speed limit; hence, the warp bubble can travel at whatever velocity desired.
At the same time, the spacecraft stays stationary within the flat region of spacetime enclosed by the warp bubble, meaning it does not move relative to the surrounding space.
It sounds wild, but this physics loophole allows a ship to 'move' faster than lightspeed without ever accelerating.
Travelling quicker than the speed of light, a vessel can traverse any distance within an 'infinitesimally' brief timeframe.
In an essay, NASA engineer Dr. Harold 'Sonny' White suggests that spacecraft could depart from Earth utilizing traditional rockets, then adjust their trajectory to align with their target destination before engaging the warp drive technology.
When sufficiently near, the warp drive would shut down at a secure range, and the journey would conclude utilizing traditional methods of propulsion.
Dr. White states: "Using this method, a trip to Alpha Centauri, as observed from Earth and recorded on spacecraft clocks, could be completed within weeks or months instead of decades or centuries."
What would it be like to ride a warp drive?
In Star Wars, a jump into hyperspace comes complete with a stunning visual display of streaking lights and stars.
However, what would it actually feel like to gaze out of the window aboard a vessel traveling at warp speed?
Dr. Clough states, "The wavelength of starlight we observe will appear compressed or elongated based on our viewing angle; thus, objects moving towards us would seem bluer, whereas those moving away would seem redder."
Furthermore, the form of objects would appear warped, similar to how things look through a bent lens.
Unfortunately for Star Wars fans, Dr Clough says that Star Trek actually comes a lot closer to visualising this correctly.
Dr. Clough specifically mentions that the "bullet shot" in Star Trek Beyond was loosely inspired by how light would bend within the distorted spacetime surrounding a warp bubble.
For fans of the series, this is yet another disappointment: research indicates that individuals traveling at warp speed wouldn't actually observe starlight streaking past their windows.
A team of physics students from the University of Leicester found through their modeling that individuals onboard the Millennium Falcon would actually observe a flat, luminous disk.
This occurs due to the fact that the cosmic microwave background radiation, which is residual energy from the Big Bang, would shift from microwaves into visible light wavelengths as a result of the Doppler effect.
Could a warp drive actually be feasible?
However, before you begin filling your luggage for a journey to Alpha Centauri, specialists caution that an actual warp drive may still be far from reality.
This is due to the fact that a warp drive needs what is known as 'exotic matter,' which refers to matter possessing negative energy.
Dr Clough says: 'If the curvature of spacetime is represented by a sheet stretching when massive objects are placed on it, positive energy objects create a dip in the sheet, which other massive objects tend to fall into – this explains gravitational attraction.
'However, in this picture negative mass would instead pull the sheet upwards, creating a hill that other objects fall away from.'
By using negative energy, future space travellers would be able to shape spacetime into the precise structure needed to make a warp bubble.
Even though this might sound as fantastical as the Force, negative energy is indeed a genuine outcome of quantum physics, and researchers have succeeded in generating minute quantities of it in laboratory settings.
"Scaling this up to create a protective bubble around a sizable vessel, requiring an energy output many times greater than that of the sun, remains firmly within the realms of science fiction," explains Dr. Clough.
Traveling at speeds exceeding the velocity of light presents a variety of challenges that could lead to significant difficulties for those journeying through space.
Professor Dietrich cautions that employing a warp drive could lead to 'causality paradoxes as it surpasses the speed of light,' an occurrence the universe may prevent.
However, simply because this technology exceeds our comprehension does not imply that it is unachievable.
A number of researchers think that warp drive technology might become feasible within just 100 years.
Professor Geraint Lewis, from the University of Sydney, informed ABC News that the universe may already contain mysterious substances possessing negative energy.
Professor Lewis stated: "There are indications that the type of materials we require do exist within the cosmos, yet whether we can gather these materials and construct a warp drive remains uncertain."
Professor Lewis commented, "Einstein's theory has reached a century of existence, yet we've barely begun to uncover its depths."
'In the coming 100 or even 1,000 years, I believe we'll uncover much more information about the cosmos, and perhaps this ultra-rapid transportation will become achievable.'
Hunting for warp drives
If there happens to be someone traveling through hyperspace in a distant galaxy, Dr. Clough and Professor Dietrich believe we ought to be capable of locating them.
Similar to how plasma behaves within a fusion reactor, the unstable nature of the exotic matter used for a warp drive necessitates containment through an advanced field system.
Should that containment field fail, the exotic matter would rapidly dissipate.
Doctor Clough and Professor Dietrich investigated the scenario that unfolds right after the failure of such a containment field.
Professor Dietrich explains: "In such cases, the bubble turns unstable and disintegrates, causing distortions in space to break apart and generate ripples that spread outward—these ripples are known as gravitational waves, which theoretically can be observed reaching our planet."
'These waves within our galaxy might be quite powerful, making them potentially distinguishable from Earth-based sources of interference.'
Even though he cautions that waves generated by vessels shorter than a kilometer in length fall within frequencies not currently measured by our detectors, this implies that we could identify any nearby use of warp drives.
Dr. Clough states, "Tim [Professor Dietrich] is doubtful and believes we won’t observe anything significant; however, even though I agree with him, I still find it intriguing enough to warrant giving it a try."
It's thrilling to consider that even if we cannot create a warp drive ourselves, another civilization somewhere in our galaxy might have mastered it, making their usage detectable by us.
Dr. Clough remarks, "Should anyone have an extra billion pounds available for constructing a high-frequency gravitational wave detector, we would be grateful for your contact!"
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