How to go faster than light.

"Scotty, push it right to the edge!"

Speaker

@pruet

How to go faster than light?

● Light speed is not fast enough.○ Milkyway's diameter is about 10^5 light-year ○ Andromeda galaxy is about 2.5 megalight-year away

● Physical limitation○ General relativity said that ... " no object can

accelerate to the speed of light in the reference frame of any coincident observe".

● How to avoid physical limitation○ Move to another space -> hyperspace jump -> "Jump"○ Don't move yourself -> move the space -> "Push"

Jump to where?

● To higher space/dimension (i.e., hyperspace)○ 4th dimension, 5th dimension, ...○ How?

■ Blackhole/whitehole■ Wormhole (Einstein-Rosen Bridge)

○ Theoretically impossible by now (update me please)■ require exotic material with negative energy

density.○ Who uses this?

■ Star wars folk...

. ╮(─▽─)╭

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060328020141/hyperspace/images/8/80/Worm3.GIF

Push what?

● Basically your spaceship does nothing, but the space around you is pushed forward, then you follow the flow.○ Think about surfing

How?

● By contracting and expanding the space, before and behind the spaceship.

○ "Warp bubble"● Based on "Alcubierre drive" theory,

formulated in 1994 (~ 30 years after the original Star Trek series)

● Alcubierre drive suggests that by using very high energy, we can collapse and expanding the space.○ Problem: very large amount of energy required

How?

● OK, how much of that?○ To move a small spaceship across Milkyway, you

need 10^64 kg mass-energy equivalence (Einstein goes here)

○ How large is 10^64 kg? it's more that estimated mass of the universe itself.

● So, is it also theoretically impossible ?○ First, we can use "negative mass" to generate that

amount of energy.■ Btw, negative mass is not "anti-matter", generally

speaking, anti-matter has positive mass.■ Negative mass is theoretically possible

○ Secondly, we can use matter/anti-matter annihilation○ Third, do it in NASA way.

In Startrek?

● matter/anti-matter annihilation● Fictional "dilithium" crystals is used separate

matter/anti-matter.

How soon?

● According to NASA, by carefully designing the drive engine, we requires very small amount of energy (energy-mass equal to the mass of Voyeger spacecraft)○ 10 times faster than light○ They are testing the idea now at Johnson Space

Center now.■ Using laser to expand/contract the space■ More info, google "White–Juday warp-field

interferometer"● So how soon?

○ Maybe before we send that guy to Mars .