|
 A new research paper authored
by an American physicist offers a potential
blueprint for superluminal travel - faster than
the speed of light - using conventional physics
rather than a construct based upon hypothetical
particles and states of matter with exotic
physical properties.
The paper, published this week in the journal
Classical and Quantum Gravity, moves the
question of superluminal travel a step away from
theoretical research and a step toward an
engineering challenge, according to physicist
Erik Lentz, who did the work while at the
University of Göttingen in Germany.
A huge hurdle remains, Lentz said, in finding a
way to vastly reduce the immense amount of
energy needed to power a theoretical 'warp
drive' engine before any hope of building a
prototype.
"A 'warp drive' technology is principally
envisioned to speed up transportation in deep
space," Lentz said. "It can be used to enhance
current ambitions for interplanetary and
interstellar travel by drastically shortening
travel times and widening mission windows."
The nearest star beyond our solar system is
Proxima Centauri, located 4.25 light years - the
distance it takes light to travel in a year -
away. Light travels at about 186,000 miles per
second (300,000 km per second) and 5.9 trillion
miles (9.5 trillion km) in a year.
Using traditional rocket fuel, it would take
about 50,000 to 70,000 years to reach Proxima
Centauri, and nuclear propulsion with proposed
technology would get there in about 100 years,
Lentz said. A light speed trip would take four
years and three months.
Lentz's blueprint envisions above-light-speed
travel, which "holds the potential for one-way
and round-trip distant interstellar travel
within a human lifetime."
[to top of second column]
|
 "If we are limited to traveling
at sub-light speed, then multi-generational
spaceships must be used for destinations beyond
the nearest stars, which is basically a
glorified burial casket for at least the first
generation of people. I do not find that
prospect nearly as inspiring," Lentz said.
His paper describes the theoretical construction
of a class of soliton - a compact
self-sustaining wave moving with constant
velocity through space - capable of superluminal
motion. These solitons are often referred to as
"warp bubbles" and they would provide the basis
for a propulsion system.
"Currently, the amount of energy required for
this new type of space propulsion drive is still
immense," Lentz said. For a spacecraft of about
650 feet (200 meters) in diameter to exceed
light speed, that could mean perhaps the energy
equivalent of hundreds of times the mass of
Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet - a
preposterous amount.
A lot of work would be needed to bring this to
fruition. Making it practical, Lentz said, would
require lowering the energy needs drastically
down to the range of modern nuclear fission
reactors. A way to create and accelerate the
solitons also must be devised, Lentz added.
Lentz views the task as difficult, but not
impossible. He said the next phase of
theoretical research and development work could
unfold over the next several years, with a fully
functional prototype drive possible within the
coming decade.
"The first truly superluminal drives may come
some decades thereafter," Lentz said. "I would
like to see this technology in use in my
lifetime."
(Reporting by Will Dunham, Editing by Rosalba
O'Brien)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
