1999/05/31 by Chris Van Den Broeck · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Energy (signal processing) #Energy requirement #Minor (academic) #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Order (exchange) #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Range (aeronautics) #Space (punctuation) #Spacetime #Total energy #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/16/12/314
published as Class.Quant.Grav. 16 (1999) 3973-3979 · 9 pages, 1 figure; error in calculation corrected
arxiv created 1999/09/21 · openalex publication_date 1999/11/10 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
I show how a minor modification of the Alcubierre geometry can dramatically improve the total energy requirements for a `warp bubble' that can be used to transport macroscopic objects. A spacetime is presented for which the total negative mass needed is of the order of a few solar masses, accompanied by a comparable amount of positive energy. This puts the warp drive in the mass scale of large traversable wormholes. The new geometry satisfies the quantum inequality concerning WEC violations and has the same advantages as the original Alcubierre spacetime.