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Warp drive is a form of faster-than-light propulsion in the fictional universe of Star Trek, capable of propelling spacecraft or objects to many multiples of the speed of light but avoiding the problems of time dilation. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through This is a complete list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes Star Trek The Animated Series (also known as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry 's Star Trek) is an Emmy Award winning This is a list of Star Trek The Animated Series episodes' The 22 episodes of the series were originally aired on NBC Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry This is the complete episode listing for Star Trek The Next Generation. The following is a complete list of episode descriptions for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, in broadcast order This is an episode list for the Science fiction Drama Star Trek Voyager. Star Trek Enterprise (simply titled Enterprise prior to season three is a Science fiction Television program created by Brannon This list of Star Trek Enterprise episodes is accompanied by each episode's original airdate on UPN in the United States, along with its Star Trek The Motion Picture is a 1979 Science fiction film from Paramount Pictures. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan is the second feature film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Television series, following Star Trek III The Search for Spock ( Paramount Pictures, 1984) is the third feature Film based on the Star Trek Star Trek IV The Voyage Home ( Paramount Pictures, 1986) is the fourth feature Film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Star Trek V The Final Frontier ( Paramount Pictures, 1989) is the fifth feature Film based on the Star Trek Science Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Television series. Star Trek Generations is a 1994 Science fiction film and the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television Star Trek First Contact is a 1996 Science fiction film and the eighth feature film based in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe Star Trek Insurrection is a 1998 Science fiction feature film the ninth based on the Star Trek television series Star Trek Nemesis ( 2002) is the tenth feature Film based on the Star Trek television series Star Trek is a Science fiction film directed by J J Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. This is a list of sentient species and races from the Fictional universe of Star Trek. The United Federation of Planets, (also known as the "The Federation" or UFP) is a fictional interplanetary state depicted in the Star Trek In the Star Trek Science fiction universe Humans/Terrans ( Homo sapiens) are one of the races undertaking interstellar travel Vulcans are a Humanoid species in the fictional Star Trek universe who hail from the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt Romulans are an alien species in the Star Trek universe that are related to the Vulcans and are at war or in an uneasy truce with the United Federation of In the Star Trek universe the Q Continuum is an extradimensional plane of existence inhabited by a race of extremely powerful hyper-intelligent beings known as Klingons ( Klingon: tlhIngan; Pronunciation /ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn/ are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe Cardassians are a spacefaring race in the fictional Star Trek universe Bajorans, a race of Humanoids in the fictional Star Trek universe were introduced in the Next Generation series and played The Borg are a fictional pseudo- race of Cyborgs depicted in the Star Trek franchise The Ferengi (pronounced) are a Fictional extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe In the fictional Star Trek universe the Dominion is a ruthless and militaristic Gamma Quadrant state consisting of many different races The Mirror Universe (MU is a Fictional parallel universe in which the plots of several Star Trek television episodes take place The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels comic books video games and other materials which are generally considered non-canon. Star Trek Phase II was a planned television series based on the characters of Gene Roddenberry 's Star Trek. This is a list of the various Star Trek novels novelisations short story collections that have been published since 1968 The Star Fleet Universe (SFU is the variant of the Star Trek Fictional universe detailed in the series of Star Fleet Battles games ( The Star Trek Customizable Card Game is a Collectible card game based on the Star Trek universe The enduring popularity of the Star Trek science fiction franchise has led to numerous games in many different formats beginning in 1967 with a Board game based on the This article deals with fan-made productions using elements of the Star Trek franchise Star Trek The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek The Star Trek canon is usually defined as comprising the television series ''Star Trek'', Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space This article lists characters in the various canonical incarnations of Star Trek. This article describes the Starfleet organization in the Star Trek universe for other uses see Starfleet (disambiguation In the Fictional universe The below is an abridged Timeline of events established in the group of Television shows and Feature films set in the Fictional Star Trek universe The fictional Star Trek universe includes several spacegoing species and groups listed in the articles linked below Borg starships This is a list of the fictional Star Trek universe's Starfleet ships organized by Ship class. In the fictional Star Trek universe the Planet Classification System is a system developed by the United Federation of Planets to categorize Planets The science-fiction media franchise Star Trek has borrowed freely from the scientific world to provide storylines In the Fictional universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet 's General Order #1 is the most prominent guiding principle of the Law in Star Trek refers to the legal procedures and processes as seen in the Star Trek Fictional universe. Memory Alpha (often abbreviated to MA) is a Wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe Star Trek is one of the most culturally influential television shows – and perhaps the most influential science fiction TV series – in history Trekkie (or Trekker) is a term used to describe a fan of all or part of the Star Trek Fictional universe. " Where No Man Has Gone Before " is the second pilot episode of the Television series Star Trek (later known as Star Trek Sexuality in Star Trek refers to the wide range of sexual practices seen in the Star Trek franchise A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science This article discusses a concept in physics For the concept in sociology see Time displacement. It is also featured in the computer games Stars!, StarCraft, Eve Online, and Darkspace, the Starship Troopers universe, and other television shows including Red Dwarf. Stars! is a complex Turn-based Computer game based around the management of planets and fleets of spaceships following the 4X game (eXplore StarCraft is a Military science fiction Real-time strategy Video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. DarkSpace is a Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy Computer game which is notable for its cult-like community its stubborn perseverance having lasted Starship Troopers is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, first published (in abridged form as a serial in The Magazine According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool Star, of the Main sequence, either late K Warp drive, called 'FTL' in the Titan novels, isn't capable of instant travel between points at infinite speed, unlike the other fictional propulsion technologies hyper-, jump, and infinite improbability drives. Hyperdrive is a name given to certain methods of traveling Faster than light (FTL in Science fiction. A jump drive (or with a capital J is one of the speculative inventions in Science fiction, a method of traveling faster than light (FTL Ships using warp drive differ from those using hyperdrive by traveling within a small created bubble of normal spacetime, rather than by entering a separate realm or dimension like hyperspace. Spacecraft at warp can interact with objects in normal space.

Although the idea of warping space as a means of propulsion has enjoyed theoretical study by physicists such as Miguel Alcubierre, who has speculatively built his own drive, no actual technological approach has been proposed; currently, there is no way to induce the warp effect he has described. Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to change the velocity of Spacecraft and artificial Satellites There are many different methods Miguel Alcubierre (Born 1964 is a Mexican Theoretical physicist. The Alcubierre metric, also known as the Alcubierre drive or Warp Drive, is a speculative mathematical model of a spacetime exhibiting features reminiscent of

Contents

Warp in Star Trek

Development of the backstory

Warp drive has been a feature of Star Trek since it started. The first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage", calls it "time warp" drive, and notes that the "time barrier" had been broken, allowing a group of stranded interstellar travellers to get back to Earth much more quickly than they had been previously able to. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through

The episode "Metamorphosis", from the original series, establishes a backstory for the invention of warp drive, stating that it was invented by Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri. Zefram Cochrane is a Fictional character in the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. Alpha Centauri (α Centauri / α Cen also known as Rigil Kentaurus, Rigil Kent, or Toliman, is the brightest Star in the southern Constellation Cochrane is repeatedly referred to afterwards, but the exact details of the first warp trials were not shown until the second Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek: First Contact. Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry Star Trek First Contact is a 1996 Science fiction film and the eighth feature film based in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe The movie depicts Cochrane as inventing warp drive on Earth in 2063 (two years after the date speculated by the first edition of the Star Trek Chronology). He used a fission reactor to heat plasma to send through the warp coils to make a warp bubble, which he could use to move the ship into subspace to go faster than the speed of light. This directly led to the first contact with the Vulcans. Vulcans are a Humanoid species in the fictional Star Trek universe who hail from the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt

The later prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise firmly establishes that many other civilizations had warp drive before humans, notably the Vulcans, who had more advanced warp drive technology than humans even in the 22nd century. Star Trek Enterprise (simply titled Enterprise prior to season three is a Science fiction Television program created by Brannon Vulcans are a Humanoid species in the fictional Star Trek universe who hail from the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt The 22nd century of the Common Era will span the years 2101&ndash2200 of the Gregorian calendar. Enterprise, set in 2151 onwards, shows the voyages of the first Earth ship capable of traveling at warp factor 5.2 which under the old warp table formula, is about 140 times the speed of light. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 Using that formula, the velocity is the warp factor cubed times the speed of light or 5. 2³ × 186,282. 397 miles/sec or 5. 2³c, which is 26,192,795. 27 miles per second. This velocity would allow a Federation Starship traveling from Earth at a constant warp 5. 2 to reach Proxima Centauri, Earth's closest extrasolar stellar body, at 4. Proxima Centauri ( Latin la ''proximus proxima proximum'' meaning 'next to' or 'nearest to' is a Red dwarf Star approximately 4 25 light years (ly) (4. 25 × 6 trillion miles) distance (Alpha Centauri, of the same trinary star system, is 4. Alpha Centauri (α Centauri / α Cen also known as Rigil Kentaurus, Rigil Kent, or Toliman, is the brightest Star in the southern Constellation 36 ly away) in approximately 11. 09 days. By the time of Captain Kirk's era in mid 23rd century, Warp factor 8 was within the capabilities of Starships (which was not exceeded often due to the strain placed on the engines). Warp 8 was 8³c (512c) or about 95,376,587. 264 miles/sec. This would allow travel from Earth to Proxima Centauri in only 3. 03 days, approximately the same amount of time it took Apollo 11 to travel from the Earth to the Moon in July, 1969. By the time of the original Star Trek's third series, the ship's maximum speed had been increased slightly to Warp 9, although invaders on the ship (Nomad, the Kelvans etc. ) had managed to increase engine efficiency drastically.

Exact speeds were only given in the Voyager episode The 37's where Tom Paris describes Voyager's maximum warp speed of Warp 9. " The 37's " is the 17th episode of Star Trek Voyager, the first episode of the second season Thomas Eugene Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series " Star Trek Voyager " 975 (under the new warp table formula) as being about 4 billion kilometres a second.

The Next Generation era

Plots involving the Enterprise going far too fast were a frequent feature in the original series (such as warp 14. 1 in That Which Survives), and for The Next Generation, it was decided that these would no longer be featured. " That Which Survives " is a third-season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast January 24, 1969 and repeated A new warp scale was drawn up, with warp 10 set as an unattainable maximum. This is described in some technical manuals as Eugene's Limit, in homage to creator/producer Gene Roddenberry. Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19 1921 &ndash October 24 1991 was an American Screenwriter and producer. (The old and new formulas are explained in much greater detail below)

The warp factors above warp 10 in the TOS, such as the one above, were slower than warp 10 on the new scale. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, warp 6 (new scale) is equal to 392c (392 times the speed of light, c) and about warp 7. The Star Trek Encyclopedia A Reference Guide to the Future is an Encyclopedia of all the In-universe information from the Star Trek 3 on the old scale, whereas warp 9. 2 new, to about 1649c and warp 11. 8 on the old scale. Under this new definition warp 9. 2 translates to 307,179,672. 653 miles/sec. Travel to Proxima Centuri from Earth would only take 22. 53 hours.

The scale reaches an asymptote at warp 10 which represents infinite speed in accordance with the speed limit imposed by the producers. An asymptote of a real-valued function y=f(x is a curve which describes the behavior of f as either x or y goes to infinity The Star Trek: Voyager episode "Threshold" agreed with this, in that the characters said attaining the velocity of warp 10 was impossible — but then they achieved it anyway, with the side effect that they hyper-evolved (reversibly) into anthropomorphic newts. " Threshold " is the 31st episode of Star Trek Voyager, the 15th episode in the second season eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely Human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings natural and supernatural phenomena material states and objects A newt is an Amphibian of the Salamandridae family order Urodela or Caudata, found in North America, Europe, and In this episode, Tom Paris describes that, while travelling at warp 10, he is concurrently in every part of the universe. Thomas Eugene Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series " Star Trek Voyager " At this speed, the Shuttlecraft Cochrane's sensors are able to process enormous amounts of telemetry such that the data storage of the shuttle is completely filled. " Threshold " is the 31st episode of Star Trek Voyager, the 15th episode in the second season

The limit of 10 did not entirely stop warp inflation. By the mid-24th century, the Enterprise-D could travel at warp 9. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D (or Enterprise -D, to distinguish it from prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century Starship 8 at "extreme risk", while normal maximum operating speed was warp 9. 6 and maximum rated cruise was warp 9. 2. The Intrepid-class starship Voyager has a maximum sustainable cruising speed of warp 9. The Intrepid class is a fictional Starfleet Starship class in the Star Trek universe the most notable being Star Trek Voyager The fictional ''Intrepid''-class Starship USS Voyager is the primary setting of the Science fiction Television series 975.

The alternate future depicted in the Next Generation episode "All Good Things..." shows Federation vessels capable of going warp 13 when Admiral Riker, commanding the Future Enterprise-D, uses this extra turn of speed to rescue the crew of the USS Pasteur. " All Good Things " is the final episode of the television series Star Trek The Next Generation. The United Federation of Planets, (also known as the "The Federation" or UFP) is a fictional interplanetary state depicted in the Star Trek However, this episode was produced before the Enterprise-D was destroyed in Star Trek Generations, so the two universes may diverge further than previously expected, and warp 13 may not be possible in the "real" Star Trek universe. Star Trek Generations is a 1994 Science fiction film and the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television It is unclear whether the warp 13 achieved in the possible future shown in "All Good Things. . . " represents a new recalibration of the warp curve, an alternate future that never adopted the "new" Warp 10 scale, or some form of transwarp. This particular future was a creation of Q and, given the destruction of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek Generations, can no longer occur in the "real" Star Trek timeline. Q, played by John de Lancie, is a character in the Star Trek mythology who appears in Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Star Trek Generations is a 1994 Science fiction film and the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television

Transwarp

The term transwarp has been used a number of times, referring to an advanced form of warp drive most commonly used by the Borg, but also the subject of a Starfleet development project in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The Borg are a fictional pseudo- race of Cyborgs depicted in the Star Trek franchise This article describes the Starfleet organization in the Star Trek universe for other uses see Starfleet (disambiguation In the Fictional universe Star Trek III The Search for Spock ( Paramount Pictures, 1984) is the third feature Film based on the Star Trek

Episodes of TNG and Voyager seem to indicate that transwarp is best described as a wormhole-style conduit through subspace: this suggests a subsuming into subspace, rather than warping normal space via subspace. In Physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of Spacetime that is fundamentally a 'shortcut' through Space and Time In the Star Trek fictional universe subspace is a feature of space-time which facilitates Faster-than-light transit in the form of interstellar travel

However, in the Voyager episode "Distant Origin", a species known as the Voth used a transwarp technology that didn't appear to be similar to Borg transwarp, but rather an enhanced warp technology. " Distant Origin " is an episode of Star Trek Voyager, the 23rd episode of the third season This is a list of sentient species and races from the Fictional universe of Star Trek.

Federation experiments

The USS Excelsior (NX-2000) under command of Captain Styles was a Federation testbed for transwarp technology. The USS Excelsior is a Starship in the Star Trek Fictional universe. Though not explained on-screen in Star Trek III, it is assumed that transwarp was a faster version of the conventional warp drive. Star Trek III The Search for Spock ( Paramount Pictures, 1984) is the third feature Film based on the Star Trek Excelsior's first operational test failed due to sabotage by Captain Scott of the Enterprise, thus preventing Excelsior from pursuing them.

The actual command bridge readouts of Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home illustrated in the spin-off reference work, Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise published in 1987, suggests the project ultimately succeeded and the USS Enterprise was indeed fitted with transwarp. The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A (or Enterprise -A) is a fictional starship in the fourth fifth and sixth Star Trek films Star Trek IV The Voyage Home ( Paramount Pictures, 1986) is the fourth feature Film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, written and illustrated by Shane Johnson and published by Pocket Books, is a book describing the post-refit

Susan Sackett's memoirs attribute the lack of transwarp in Star Trek: The Next Generation to Gene Roddenberry's dislike of the concept. Susan Sackett, an American Author and Screenwriter, best known for her involvement in the Star Trek franchise Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19 1921 &ndash October 24 1991 was an American Screenwriter and producer. [1]

Borg conduits

The Borg (in the The Next Generation two-part episode "Descent" and in the Voyager finale Endgame) have discovered the existence of transwarp conduits—regions in subspace that facilitate transwarp travel at up to 20 times faster than conventional warp drives. The Borg are a fictional pseudo- race of Cyborgs depicted in the Star Trek franchise " Descent " is a two-part episode from the sixth/seventh season of the Television series Star Trek The Next Generation. " Endgame " is the title of the Series finale of the Star Trek spinoff series Star Trek Voyager. These episodes established that the Borg set up networks of these conduits between important areas in the galaxy. Borg transwarp conduits are activated by an encoded tachyon pulse. A tachyon (from the Greek, takhyónion, from, takhýs, ie swift fast is any hypothetical particle that travels at Faster-than-light When a Borg vessel enters a transwarp conduit, it is subject to extreme gravimetric shear. To compensate, the Borg project a structural integrity field ahead of the vessel. Artificial conduits are linked together with transwarp hubs. Six hubs were known to exist, but in "'Endgame" one was destroyed, along with the Unicomplex due to the neurolytic pathogen with which Admiral Janeway infected herself. " Endgame " is the title of the Series finale of the Star Trek spinoff series Star Trek Voyager. The Borg are a fictional pseudo- race of Cyborgs depicted in the Star Trek franchise Cordotomy (or chordotomy) is a surgical procedure that disables selected Pain -conducting tracts in the Spinal cord, in order to achieve loss of pain and A pathogen (from Greek πάθος pathos "suffering passion" and γἰγνομαι (γεν- gignomai (gen- "I give birth to" infectious

Quantum slipstream

See Slipstream (science fiction)

Quantum Slipstream Technology is presumed to be the standard interstellar propulsion method used by Species 116 (of which Arturis was a member) prior to their assimilation by the Borg. " Slipstream " is a Science fiction term for a fictional method of Faster-than-light space travel similar to hyperspace travel Warp " Hope and Fear " is an episode of Star Trek Voyager, the final episode of the fourth season In the Voyager episode "Hope and Fear", Seven of Nine remarks that the technology involved is not dissimilar to Borg transwarp technology. " Hope and Fear " is an episode of Star Trek Voyager, the final episode of the fourth season Seven of Nine, full name "Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One" (born Annika Hansen) is a fictional character in the television series

Warp velocities

Warp travel velocity in Star Trek is generally described in "warp factor" units, which - according to the Star Trek Technical Manuals - correspond to the strength of the warp field. Achieving warp factor 1 is equivalent to breaking the light-speed barrier, while the actual speed of higher factors is determined according to an ambiguous "warp formula". Several episodes of the original series placed the Enterprise in peril by having it travel at high warp factors; in "That Which Survives", this factor was as high as 14. " That Which Survives " is a third-season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast January 24, 1969 and repeated 1. However, the actual speed of any given warp factor is rarely explicitly stated on screen, and travel times for specific interstellar distances are not consistent through the various series.

According to the Star Trek episode writer's guide for The Original Series, warp factors are supposedly converted to multiples of light speed with the cubic function s(w) = w3c. This article discusses cubic equations in one variable For a discussion of cubic equations in two variables see Elliptic curve. Accordingly, "warp 1" is equivalent to the speed of light, "warp 2" is eight times the speed of light, "warp 3" is 27 times the speed of light, and so on. However, this conflicts with the on-screen application of the technology, as it would make the Enterprise far too slow for the voyages depicted in the television series. These speeds do not even correlate with details presented in some of the episodes. For example, in "That Which Survives" (1969), the Enterprise travels at warp 8. " That Which Survives " is a third-season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast January 24, 1969 and repeated 4 for 11. 33 hours and traverses 990. 7 light years (as indicated in Spock's dialog), which makes the speed more than 600,000 times the speed of light. A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by Spock (sometimes referred to as Mr Spock) is a main character in the original Star Trek TV series The Enterprise has also easily traveled to and from the edge of the Milky Way galaxy ("Is There in Truth No Beauty" and "By Any Other Name" (1968)), a journey which should take years at "warp 8" if the actual speed is merely a cube of the warp factor. " Is There in Truth No Beauty? " is a third season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast October 18, 1968. " By Any Other Name " is a second season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast February 23, 1968 and repeated

The new warp scale and power usage
The new warp scale and power usage

For Star Trek: The Next Generation and the subsequent series, Star Trek artist Michael Okuda devised a formula based on the original one but with important differences. Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry Michael Okuda is a graphic designer who is best known for his work on Star Trek. For warp 1–9, if w is the warp factor, s(w) is the speed in km per second, and c is the speed of light, then s(w) = w^{10 \over 3}c. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand The second ( SI symbol s) sometimes abbreviated sec, is the name of a unit of Time, and is the International System of Units In the half-open interval from warp 9 to warp 10, the exponent of w increases toward infinity. In Mathematics, an interval is a set of Real numbers with the property that any number that lies between two numbers in the set is also included in the set Thus, in the Okuda scale, warp speeds approach warp 10 asymptotically. An asymptote of a real-valued function y=f(x is a curve which describes the behavior of f as either x or y goes to infinity There is no exact formula for this interval because the quoted speeds are based on a hand-drawn curve.

Warp speeds tend to warp 10 asymptotically, and at speeds greater than warp 9 the form of the warp function changes because of an increase in the exponent of the warp factor, w. An asymptote of a real-valued function y=f(x is a curve which describes the behavior of f as either x or y goes to infinity Due to the resultant increase in the derivative, a small change in the warp factor corresponds to a large increase in speed. In Calculus, a branch of mathematics the derivative is a measurement of how a function changes when the values of its inputs change

The later series were better at keeping to calculated velocities than the original; however, they were still far from perfect. Later episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (such as "Descent" (1993)) contradicted these speeds and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine depicted Federation Starfleet strategic operations (fleet movements) which would have been impossible under the Okuda scale. Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry " Descent " is a two-part episode from the sixth/seventh season of the Television series Star Trek The Next Generation. The United Federation of Planets, (also known as the "The Federation" or UFP) is a fictional interplanetary state depicted in the Star Trek Star Trek: Voyager, though its premise was generally based on the Okuda scale, had several notable instances, such as in the episode "Parallax" or "The '37s" (1995), where the stated warp velocities varied wildly from the Okuda standard. " Parallax " is the third episode of the Science fiction Television series Star Trek Voyager. " The 37's " is the 17th episode of Star Trek Voyager, the first episode of the second season

In general, the farther away a Star Trek show is in production date from the publish date of the Star Trek Technical Manual, the more likely a ship would be to travel at the "speed of plot". For example, in the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot episode they give a time and speed to Neptune that accords with the original series' formula, but then they estimate a trip to the Klingon Homeworld of Qo'noS at warp 5 as a four-day journey, placing it just one light-year away from Earth — far closer than the nearest stellar system, Alpha Centauri. Star Trek Enterprise (simply titled Enterprise prior to season three is a Science fiction Television program created by Brannon Neptune ( English|AmE] ] is the eighth and farthest Planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Klingons ( Klingon: tlhIngan; Pronunciation /ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn/ are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe Klingons ( Klingon: tlhIngan; Pronunciation /ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn/ are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 Alpha Centauri (α Centauri / α Cen also known as Rigil Kentaurus, Rigil Kent, or Toliman, is the brightest Star in the southern Constellation

Warp theory and technology

A visualization of a warp field. The ship rests in a bubble of normal space.
A visualization of a warp field. The ship rests in a bubble of normal space.

For a more in-depth discussion of warp propulsion systems, refer to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda. Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual ( STTNG TM) is a Paperback reference guide detailing the inner and other workings Richard Michael Sternbach (born in 1951 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an illustrator who is best known for his space illustrations and his work on the Michael Okuda is a graphic designer who is best known for his work on Star Trek. Chapter 5, "Warp Propulsion Systems", discusses the following topics:

However, the shows often contradicted both the TNG and DS9 technical manuals. In Particle physics and Quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the Antiparticle to Matter, where antimatter is composed The Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of Spacecraft propulsion proposed in 1960 by the physicist Robert W Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and

Slingshot effect

A side effect of Warp travel which has been shown throughout Star Trek is the "Slingshot Effect. In Orbital mechanics and Aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist or swing-by is the use of the relative movement and " First discovered by accident in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (1967), one of the earlier episodes of the original Star Trek series, it is a method of using a warp drive to travel through time. " Tomorrow Is Yesterday " is a first-season episode of Star Trek The Original Series. This article details time travel itself For other uses see Time Traveler. Whereas the actual procedure is intentionally obscure, it involved travelling at high warp speed toward a star (established in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) to be somewhere over Warp 9. Star Trek IV The Voyage Home ( Paramount Pictures, 1986) is the fourth feature Film based on the Star Trek Science fiction 8), on a precisely calculated "slingshot" path, and if successful it can allow for travel to the future or past. The same technique was used later in the episode "Assignment: Earth" (1968) intentionally for historic research (where it is given the technical name "light speed breakaway factor"), and again in Star Trek IV (where it was called "time warp"). " Assignment Earth " is a second season episode of Star Trek The Original Series. The technique was mentioned as a viable method of time travel in the Next Generation episode "Time Squared" (1989). " Time Squared " is the 39th episode of the television series Star Trek The Next Generation.

This 'slingshot' effect has been introduced into real-world theoretical physics, as well: in theory, it is possible (though not practical or at all safe) to slingshot oneself 'around' the event horizon of a black hole. The result of such a maneuver would cause time to pass at a faster rate, relative to the ship within the event horizon. Such a journey would, unfortunately, be a 'one-way' trip -- the pilot of the craft would not have 'travelled through time' in the classical sense, but would instead merely 'skip over' the intervening years.

In the books

Some years after Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), Pocket Books came out with a series of books based upon the Enterprise's encounters during both its first and second five year mission. Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes Paperback books In "The Wounded Sky" written by Diane Duane, the crew picks up a Hamalki engineer, which invents a new form of the Transwarp Drive. The Wounded Sky is a 1983 Star Trek Novel ( Pocket Books #13 by Diane Duane, featuring James T Diane Duane (born May 18, 1952) is an American Science fiction and Fantasy author Even though such books are not considered canon, the theories proposed in the book lend to the idea of Warp and Transwarp, and further explain the properties of subspace. Subspace may refer to;Mathematics Euclidean subspace, in linear algebra a set of vectors in n -dimensional Euclidean space that is closed under addition According to the book, Warp Drive does indeed create a bubble around the ship; however, it is explained that the ship is surrounded by a bubble of subspace--another universe where the speed of light is much faster than in ours. This lends to the theory that one cannot attain the speed of light, but it can be circumvented via alternate universes. The book further explains that the alternate universe is attuned with our own, such that planetary bodies are in exactly the same place, which makes navigation much simpler. The Transwarp Device invented by the Hamalki uses a different approach to the same idea. The Transwarp Drive in this case creates a field around the ship which allows it to enter De Sitter space--a space in which there is infinite energy, zero mass (with exceptions) and no absolute laws of physics or time. In Mathematics and Physics, n -dimensional De Sitter space, denoted dS_n is the Lorentzian analog of an ''n''-sphere (with its This essentially allows the Enterprise to enter De Sitter space and travel millions of times faster than light. In the book, the Enterprise manages to reach the Lesser Magellanic Cloud (385 years away at warp 8), a dwarf galaxy in orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC is a Dwarf galaxy. It contains several hundred million stars The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias sometimes referred to simply

Warp core

The primary form of propulsion in the Star Trek universe is the "gravimetric field displacement manifold", more commonly referred to as a "warp core". It is a fictional power plant based on a matter-antimatter reaction, providing sufficient energy to power a starship's warp drive and allow faster than light velocities. Matter is commonly defined as being anything that has mass and that takes up space. In Particle physics and Quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the Antiparticle to Matter, where antimatter is composed On starships, warp cores also serve as the source of energy for other primary systems.

In nature, when matter and antimatter come into contact, they annihilate each other and release large amounts of energy. In the Star Trek universe, fictional "dilithium crystals" are used to regulate this reaction. In the Star Trek universe, dilithium is a fictional Chemical element, although the name also applies to a real-world molecule. These crystals are described as being non-reactive to anti-matter when bombarded with high levels of radiation. The matter used in the reaction is usually deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, and the antimatter is usually antideuterium, the corresponding antimatter to deuterium. Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a Stable isotope of Hydrogen with a Natural abundance in the Oceans of Earth Isotopes (Greek isos = "equal" tópos = "site place" are any of the different types of atoms ( Nuclides Hydrogen (ˈhaɪdrədʒən is the Chemical element with Atomic number 1 The reaction chamber is surrounded by a magnetic field to contain the anti-matter.

The energy released in the reaction process is used to create a field called a "warp bubble". This field distorts space around the vessel, while acting as a barrier between the distortions. The bubble is accelerated while the space inside the bubble does not technically move, so the vessel does not experience time dilation, and time passes inside the bubble at the same rate as time in the other parts of the galaxy. Within the warp field, the starship does not exceed the local speed of light, and therefore does not violate the principal tenet of special relativity. Special relativity (SR (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the Physical theory of Measurement in Inertial [2]

Is a nonfictional warp drive possible?

Artist's Impression of the compression of a viewer's perspective in front of a ship at warp drive
Artist's Impression of the compression of a viewer's perspective in front of a ship at warp drive

Many of the futuristic technologies featured in the series have actually been created (such as the hypospray) or are currently being researched (e. The hypospray is a Fictional version of a Jet injector. Sometimes it is used as a Verb "to hypospray" = "to use a hypospray on (someone/something" g. , the VISOR). A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects In 1996, NASA established the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program, which sponsored some speculative work on warp drives. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program (BPP is a research program which was funded from 1996 through 2002 by NASA, in the hope of studying various This program was discontinued in 2002.

While thought experiments on the wilder shores of theoretical physics continue, no scheme that may allow "warp speed" travel has yet been devised that has been accepted by mainstream science. A thought experiment (from the German Gedankenexperiment) is a proposal for an Experiment that would test a Hypothesis or Theory Some physicists have proposed a model of FTL travel, formulated in the context of Lorentzian manifolds, which are used in general relativity to construct spacetime models. In Differential geometry, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold (also called a semi-Riemannian manifold) is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold. General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 SpaceTime is a patent-pending three dimensional graphical user interface that allows end users to search their content such as Google Google Images Yahoo! YouTube eBay Amazon and RSS However, contrary to a common misunderstanding, these models are in no sense solutions to the Einstein field equation, and they give absolutely no hint of how to actually make a warp bubble. The Einstein field equations ( EFE) or Einstein's equations are a set of ten equations in Einstein 's theory of General relativity in which the These models do however show that while it is indeed impossible to go faster than the speed of light, in principle it might be possible to circumvent the problem by suitably "warping" spacetime itself. The best known theory, known as the Alcubierre drive, has the amusing feature that its terminology is in accord with Trek jargon: "warp factors" measure the warping of space (or rather spacetime), not actual speed. The Alcubierre metric, also known as the Alcubierre drive or Warp Drive, is a speculative mathematical model of a spacetime exhibiting features reminiscent of

The following formula (Einstein Field Equation), based on general relativity, theoretically permits the travel of an object faster than light provided that spacetime is curved:[3]

G_{\mu \nu}=\frac{8\pi}{c^4} G T_{\mu \nu}

Gμν is the Einstein curvature tensor, which describes the curvature in space, while the constant G without indices is Newton's gravitational constant. General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 The gravitational constant, denoted G, is a Physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitational attraction between objects with mass

If spacetime is warped properly, then technically the object(s) are not moving faster than light, even though they appear in normal space to be moving faster than light.

In 2007, physicist Richard Obousy proposed that a warp drive could be created by directly manipulating the extra dimensions of string theory. His idea suggests the expansion of spacetime is a consequence of the vacuum ground-state of higher dimensional graviton fluctuations. In this model the vacuum energy equations can be expressed as:

<E_{vac}>=-\frac{\pi^2}{R^4} \left[ \frac{(2+n)(3+n)}{2}-1 \right] \left[ \zeta(0) \right] ^{n-1} \zeta'(4)

In this model, it is the radius of the extra dimensions that directly controls the expansion of space. Obousy suggests that it is superstrings that wrap around the extra dimensions keeping them compact, but that a sufficiently advanced civilization might influence a string and locally adjust the size of the extra dimension creating a controlled expansion and contraction of the space surrounding an interstellar craft.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Susan Sackett (2002). Inside Trek: My Secret Life With Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry. HAWK Publishing Group. ISBN 1-930709-42-0.  
  2. ^ http://www.star-trek-voyager.net/btshtm/bts_bormanis_primer.htm#ftl Star-trek-voyager. com Retrieved on 05-18-07
  3. ^ Remote Sensing Tutorial Page A-10
  4. ^ William Shatner; Chip Walter (2002). William Alan Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian double Emmy - Golden Globe - and Saturn Award -winning I'm Working on That: A Trek From Science Fiction to Science Fact. Simon and Schuster. Simon & Schuster Inc, a division of CBS Corporation, is a Publisher founded in New York in 1924 by Richard L ISBN 0-671047-37-X.  

External links

Here is a small selection of speculative articles from the physics literature:

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