Scientists have discovered a space-time bubble. What it is?

Today, speaking of space travel, wewe are content with science fiction - the flight to the planet closest to Earth has not yet been realized. But with the help of imagination and mathematics, we can assume that in the universe besides us there is life and, possibly, intelligent. Who knows if our space neighbors have solved the riddle of space travel? Can they, like the Star Trek crew, travel in a spaceship to different corners of the universe? We are unlikely to find out the answer to this question in the near future, but scientists already have something to tell. DARPA-funded researchers at the Limitade Space Institute have discovered a real warp bubble in space. This event marks a breakthrough in the development of faster-than-light spacecraft - the existence of the Alcubierre Bubble stems from some of the solutions to Einstein's equations. Moreover, theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre suggests that we can indeed create an apparatus that accelerates to superluminal speed.

Warp bubble detected, warping space-time

Bubble Alcubierre

For the first time, the Alcubierra bubble was talked about in 1994year. It was then that the theoretical physicist worked on the idea of ​​a warp drive - through mathematical calculations. He suggested that some spacecraft can travel at superluminal speeds without violating the laws of physics. The idea of ​​the Mexican mathematician quickly attracted scientists, but some considered it an insoluble question.

Now the authors of the study published inThe European Physical Journal C, led by ex-NASA warp drive specialist Harold White, suggested that creating a real warp drive would require less energy and materials than Alcubierre believed.

It turns out that we are on the verge of creationwarp drive, and unlike the fantastic Star Trek-esque variations, there really won't be a need for an exotic substance to make it work! Interestingly, Alcubierre proposed a mathematically sound solution for creating a warp drive using a space-time bubble.

Varu-bubble warps space-time

Mexican scientist believed that the "warp bubble"must surround a spaceship, which will largely move not in space, but in space-time, distorted by the spacecraft's engine itself. It is such a bubble that scientists have recently discovered.

More on the topic: Time flows differently at the quantum level. But how? And what does this mean for physics?

Warp drives

So the torsion engine Alcubierrecould theoretically move at dizzying speed with the help of a special space propulsion system that would not violate the laws of physics as we know them, and especially the laws of the speed of light. Indeed, in fact, we do not need a spaceship that moves in space, but space-time surrounding the spaceship - it is distorted and displacement occurs.

However, the materials required to make such an engine, as well as the power required, have always made this approach only theoretical and completely unimaginable for potential applications.

It may turn out that we can finally become space wanderers.

As is often the case in the history of science,the discovery of the warp bubble turned out to be an accident. No one thought about Alcubierre's calculations - scientists were conducting experiments with negative energy on a nanostructure. In particular, they analyzed Casimir effect - the force of attraction that spreads between two uncharged parallel plates and two conductive plates.

During the experiment, an amazingDiscovery: The influence of the Casimir effect on nanostructure bears striking similarities to the concept of a warp drive, which the Mexican physicist and mathematician wrote about.

Micro / nanoscale structure detectionpredicts a negative energy density distribution, which closely matches the metric requirements described by Alcubierre - the existence of a warp bubble meets the exact requirements necessary to satisfy his theory. According to the authors of the study, the warp bubble is real and tiny creation of a kind that potentially leads to a scientific breakthrough.

As Tech Times explains, the discovery could havefundamental to development, which will happen in the near future anyway. The invention of a new engine for a spacecraft that will allow much longer flights in a much shorter time is getting closer.

It's hard to believe, but the Vara engine is closer than it seems.

With the help of White's new team concept you can create a deformation enginethat could distort spacetime and allow a hypothetical spacecraft to even exceed the speed of light.

See also: SpaceX space tourist vomited during the flight. What caused it?

Will we be able to travel the universe?

It should also be noted that we have before us the firstpeer-reviewed research in this area. His results show that "a viable nanostructure in the laboratory can deform bubbles through a similar negative energy distribution in a vacuum as needed." Interestingly, in a similar report, The Debrief, researchers (funded by DARPA) are moving towards a more realistic approach without adhering to theoretical concepts.

The report mentions that the distribution of negative energy density is somehow corresponds to initial requirements:“There can be an imbalance between the particles to create negative energy. The mass will hold the particle, while the other will be negative energy in the space-time bubble. "

More and more surprises in space-time

In the future, the team intends to developa "warp-driven vehicle" under test for testing. In other words, we are talking about a nanoscale apparatus that will make it possible to determine the qualitative ratio of the metrics to those set by Alcubierre. However, some scientists have fears that such a ship will not be able to cope with superluminal speed, as it will lead to its destruction. Also, do not forget about the effect of time dilation - it slows down when we move faster.

Why time on the top of the mountain flows slower than on the beach, we talked about in this article, we recommend reading!

Well, we just have to wait for the results.future exploration and hope that we can finally embark on a journey across the galaxy. Do you think scientists will be able to invent a ship that can deform space-time? We will wait for the answer here, as well as in the comments to this article!