Astrophysicist Davis is a leader in FTL space travel. For Davis, the potential of human beings to explore the vast universe is infinite, and the warp drive is by no means limited to science fiction.

"The theoretical derivation of ftl propulsion was put forward decades ago (refer to Miguel Alku Bier)." Davis said, "All conventional physical propulsion technologies are limited to the speed of light, and the use of ftl spacecraft will greatly shorten the time and distance of interstellar navigation."

superluminal travel

According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, the speed of an object cannot exceed the speed of light. However, some scientists believe that there are loopholes in this theory, and one day humans will travel light-years in just one day.

In the current superluminal theory, it is not the spaceship that moves, but the space itself, which constructs a flexible and changeable space (in fact, our space has been expanding since BIGBANG). By bending the space around the spacecraft instead of accelerating the spacecraft itself, the warp drive theory will not violate Einstein's special theory of relativity, because the speed of the spacecraft itself will never reach the speed of light in its space.

Davis's paper discusses two theories of how to realize superluminal travel-warp drive and wormhole. The difference between the two lies in the way of manipulating space.

For warp drive, the principle is that the space in front of the spacecraft shrinks and the space behind it expands, thus generating a "wave" that pushes the spacecraft forward.

For wormholes, the principle is to create a time tunnel and shorten the two points in the path connection space. In the paper, the wormhole entrance described by Davis is an "extremely contracted and twisted ball containing a mirror image of another universe or a remote part of the universe".

For sci-fi fans, when it comes to warp drive, they often think of Star Trek and Future World. Speaking of wormholes, I think of the stargate.

Ford-sweet mirror

The next question to be discussed is: how to create a space-time distortion to make the speed of the spacecraft exceed the speed of light? Many people imagine that a certain amount of "negative energy" can achieve the expected effect, and it seems to have been confirmed by preliminary experiments. Negative energy has been generated in the laboratory through the Casimir effect. These phenomena are based on serious thinking about the opposite of space and classical physics, and are not empty. According to quantum mechanics, space is full of electromagnetic waves, and twisting these electromagnetic waves will produce negative energy.

According to Davis, the most likely method to generate negative energy is called "Ford-Sweet Mirror". This is a theoretical device that can converge all electromagnetic waves in space to its focal line.

"After focusing, negative energy will be generated." Davis said, "Negative energy can create wormholes and let people pass through. If the mirror is bigger, the spaceship can pass. " But the key is, how do we locate the exit of the wormhole? According to our understanding of existing physics, it is not impossible to locate the exit of wormholes, but we haven't found a way to achieve it yet. Another problem discussed in Davis' paper is-how to operate a spaceship in a wormhole? After all, in a wormhole, you may not be able to navigate at all. "The star images displayed on the spacecraft's display screen in Star Trek and Star Wars are not very accurate." Davis said, "The light passing through the wormhole will be distorted, and what you see will be a strange sight." Therefore, astronauts can't locate by the things around them, and they will have to rely on advanced computer programs to calculate their possible positions.

Fly through thorns to the universe

The core theory in Davis's thesis is to demonstrate the real possibility of superluminal travel with scientific theory. In the last part of the paper, Davis put forward nine steps, which may push us to the actual test of engineering prototype and superluminal travel.

These steps include building a computer model to simulate the structure and function of space distortion. Davis also said that the Ford-Sweet mirror needs more rigorous exploration. After all, this is only a theoretical device. Generating negative energy through it is only one possible way, and further research is needed to determine whether there are other better ways to achieve the same effect.

Davis also introduced the technical difficulties and challenges in developing and implementing space travel. But he thinks that no matter how difficult it is, it is not only possible but also inevitable to develop superluminal travel one day in the future.

"The earth's ecological environment is destroyed, resources are limited, and it is threatened by external space. Life is too fragile, and other planets in the solar system are not suitable for human survival. Therefore, we need to explore planets outside the solar system to replace our homes. " Davis said, "This is part of human development and evolution."