Detailed study of null and timelike geodesics in the Alcubierre warp spacetime

Abstract

The geodesic equation of the Alcubierre warp spacetime is converted into its non-affinely parametrized form for a detailed discussion of the motion of particles and the visual effects as observed by a traveller inside the warp bubble or a person looking from outside. To include gravitational lensing for point-like light sources, we present a practical approach using the Jacobi equation and the Sachs bases. Additionally, we consider the dragging and geodesic precession of particles due to the warp bubble.

Obstacles from interstellar matter and distortion for warp drive travel

“…The dust particles with a larger initial y position will arrive at the x-z plane further away from the spaceship. This is consistent with the numerical result by [29]. One may notice that, in Fig 6, the point where the trajectory of the dust particles starts to shift is inside the bubble.…”

“…In this section we consider the interaction of a single photon with the warp bubble, and determine the energy shift of the photon. Fortunately, for our concerned case where the spaceship is placed at the center, the trajectory of the photons which could meet with spaceship, as well as the energy shift, i.e., the ratio of photon energy when it hits the spaceship to its energy far from the spaceship, is studied in [28,29]. Here we directly present their results.…”

Obstacles from interstellar matters and distortion in warp drive superluminal travel scenario

“…Fortunately, for our concerned case where the spaceship is placed at the center, the trajectory of the photons which could meet with spaceship, as well as the energy shift, i.e., the ratio of photon energy when it hits the spaceship to its energy far from the spaceship, is studied in [29,30]. Here we directly present their results.…”

START in a Five-Dimensional Conformal Domain

“…The Reader is encouraged to verify by a straightforward calculation that, with the above definition, Q(X(x µ , λ)) = −1, and that applying the formula (11) to X(x µ , λ) we indeed recover (x µ , λ). We can now calculate the metric.…”