Theoretical Warp Bubble Structure: Image Credit LSI
In 1994, Mexican Mathematician Miguel Alcubierre proposed the first mathematically valid solution to the warp drive. More specifically, he outlined a spacecraft propulsion system previously only envisioned in science fiction that can traverse the cosmos above the speed of light without violating currently accepted laws of physics.
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“While conducting analysis related to a DARPA-funded project to evaluate possible structure of the energy density present in a Casimir cavity as predicted by the dynamic vacuum model,” reads the actual findings published in the peer-reviewed European Physical Journal, “a micro/nano-scale structure has been discovered that predicts negative energy density distribution that closely matches requirements for the Alcubierre metric.”
Or put more simply, as White did in a recent email to The Debrief, “To my knowledge, this is the first paper in the peer-reviewed literature that proposes a realizable nano-structure that is predicted to manifest a real, albeit humble, warp bubble.”
This fortuitous finding, says White, not only confirms the predicted “toroidal” structure and negative energy aspects of a warp bubble, but also resulted in potential pathways he and other researchers can follow when trying to design, and one day actually construct, a real-world warp-capable spacecraft.
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“This is a potential structure we can propose to the community that one could build that will generate a negative vacuum energy density distribution that is very similar to what’s required for an Alcubierre space warp.”
When asked by The Debrief in December if his team has built and tested this proposed nano-scale warp craft design since that August announcement, or if they have plans to do so, White said, “We have not manufactured the one-micron sphere in the middle of a 4-micron cylinder.” However, he noted, if the LSI team were to undertake that at some point, “we’d probably use a nanoscribe GT 3D printer that prints at the nanometer scale.” In short, they have the means, now they just need the opportunity.
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White and his team have also outlined a second testable experiment that involves stringing a number of these Casimir-created warp bubbles in a chain-like configuration. This design, he said, would allow researchers to better understand the physics of the warp bubble structure already created, as well as how a craft may one day traverse actual space inside such a warp bubble.
“We could go through an examination of the optical properties as a result of these little, nano-scale warp bubbles,” explained White at the AIAA conference. “Aggregating a large number of them in a row, we can increase the magnitude of the effect so we can see (and study) it.”
