Talk:Warp drive

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Contents 1 Eugene's Limit 2 Removed 3 André Bormanis's explanation 4 Integration of the Alcubierre Drive into the article? 5 Warp drive mechanics

[edit] Eugene's Limit

Is it alright to add a mention of Eugene's Limit (St:TNG Tech Manual, p.56) to the article? --WTRiker 21:51, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Only as a background note. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 23:20, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removed

• Warp drive works by distorting the fabric of space to propel the vessel. Simply put, the drive warps space, both in front of and behind a starship, allowing it to travel faster than the speed of light. Specifically, spacetime is contracted in front of the ship and expanded behind it. The starship itself rests in a warp bubble between the two spacetime distortions. This warped space, together with the region inside it, accelerates off at 'warp speed' and the vessel then 'surfs' the wave in spacetime created by this distortion {{incite}}.

• Travel at velocities exceeding the speed of light is possible in this fashion because the starship is, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space inside the warp bubble) while space itself is moving. Since space itself is moving and the starship is not actually accelerating, it experiences no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside the warp bubble {{incite}}.

Uncited a bit more detailed than any episode or film would have ever gotten into. – Alan 21:35, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] André Bormanis's explanation

..which provides a bridge between electromagnetic and gravitational forces. By design, it has the property that when the warp plasma circulates through the coils, a [warp field]] is generated. Electromagnetic interactions between waves of the warp plasma and the verterium cortenide coils change the geometry of space surrounding the engine nacelles. In the process, a multilayered wave of warped space is born, and the starship cruises off to its next destination at hundreds of times the speed of light relative to normal space. Within the warp field, however, the starship does not exceed the local speed of light, and therefore does not violate the principal tenet of special relativity.

Travel at velocities exceeding the speed of light is possible in this fashion because the starship is, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space inside the warp field) while it is the space-time immediately around the starship that is actually moving. Since spacetime itself is moving and the starship is not actually accelerating, it experiences no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside the warp field.

I removed this update as it doesn't show up in canon. It looks like a similar section that was already removed earlier. --Morder 11:54, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Canonicity isn't the issue so much as citation is. If it really did come from Bormanis, then it falls under one of the permitted resources ("Background information from the production staff") as defined in the Canon policy (although also according to policy, it should be in background, not in the main article). The question, then, is whether Bormanis really said all this and if so, where, so it can be cited properly. - Bridge 12:07, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You can find the statement in a transcript on startrek.com. I leave it up to you to decide whether or not to include it. --Morder 12:09, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Probably best to leave that decision to an admin, just in case I've misinterpreted the canon policy. I'll leave a note at Alan's page asking him to look at this discussion, since he was the one who removed the similar uncited notes as shown in the section above this one. - Bridge 12:34, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Integration of the Alcubierre Drive into the article?

• The Alcubierre Drive was postulated by Miguel Alcubierre after watching Star Trek. Basically, the Alcubierre Drive works by contracting spacetime in front of a vessel, and expanding spacetime behind the vessel. This creates a sort of "warp bubble". While the ship is moving at locally sublight speeds (usually actually zero), the bubble that carries the ship is free to travel at any velocity without its contents noticing anything.
• The Alcubierre Drive has never explicitly been confirmed in any Star Trek episode or movie, and warp drive has never been fully explained onscreen. Star Trek, however, does somewhat confirm the Alcubierre Drive as Star Trek's warp drive when Scotty mentions that he'd never have thought of having space be what's moving is his transporter equations for targets moving at warp speed.
• The Alcubierre Drive does have some problems though. To bend space enough to reach superluminal velocities, an immense amount of energy would be required. Supposedly, Zefram Cochrane and Starfleet's engineers solved this with dilithium crystals and warp coils. There are a lot more problems with the Alcubierre Drive discussed on Wikipedia. 74.211.15.99 04:00, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

MA is not for original research, speculation or anything of the like. This site is intended to be an encyclopedia build purely around canon and related licensed material. --Alan 04:08, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Warp drive mechanics

I have been a big star trek fan but i never got far into the backstory of the star trek universe until i found this wiki. i looked up warp drive, read the mechanics of it and notices that i know this is some of the hardest science fiction around but the warp drive does not use any kind of real world mechanic at all to propel itself. it does not generate a wormhole between two points, become partially in another universe where the laws of physics permit superluminal speeds, or reduce its mass to zero. it merely seems to heat up gas in a matter-antimatter reaction then shoot it out the neacells (did i spell that right?). how would this allow FTl and even if it did there is nothing to provide the thrust, even is something can move faster then light it does not mean that it is. if anybody can make sense of a warp drive then try to explain it to me. i dont really expect any good explainations as this is sci-fi but i was wondering if the creators addressed this question in an episode or something like that. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.208.106.250 (talk).

That isn't how warp drive is described as working at all. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 20:14, September 6, 2009 (UTC)

well gee sorry you have to admit it is a bit complicted. anyway thats why i started this thread, so that people could give me a better understanding. feel fre to post your interpretation. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.208.106.250 (talk).

Read the article. It was written for the very purpose of education. The very first paragraph would be a great start to dispelling your reaction mass theory. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 20:29, September 6, 2009 (UTC)

okay so it says they get the plasma with the antimatter reaction by heating up gasses i take it? thats how i would get some plasma . and then they shoot it into the neacells with the plasma injectors. i think it says that the whole thing is made of dilithium so the anti matter doesnt go off and ahhnialate itself and ruin the procces (why not just use force fields?) so anway then the plasma is injected into some warp coils. some how this projects a warp field. whats so special about the warp coils that gets them to make this field?. and things in the field can exede lightspeed, right? like i said before just because its in a field that lefts it go faster that light there is no propultion. do they use the impulse drives? a eingine that generates that kind of speed would be almost as monumental a achivement then the warp drive itself. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.208.106.250 (talk).

What is so special about Light Emitting Diodes that putting electricity through them causes them to emit light? Different compounds have different and unique properties. The field itself is and can be the propulsion. It is interacting with the very fabric of space/time. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 20:50, September 6, 2009 (UTC)

ok that wasnt much help but i think im done here. thanks anyways nice to see someone who doesnt yell at me on a forum. most wiki forums ive been to every idea ive presened or question ive asked eveybody puts it down and discourags me. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.208.106.250 (talk).