Eagleworks Laboratories WARP FIELD PHYSICS Dr. Harold "Sonny" White NASA JSC Hyper-fast interstellar travel… • Is there a way within the framework of physics such that one could cross any given cosmic distance in an arbitrarily short period of time, while never locally breaking the speed of light (11th commandment)? - SPACEWARPS (inflation) - WORMHOLES (shortcuts) Alcubierre Metric (Alcubierre, M., 'The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity,' Class. Quant. Grav. 11, L73-L77 (1994)): Warp Metric: ds^2 = -c^2 dt^2 + (dx - vs f(rs) dt)^2 + dy^2 + dz^2 - Space expansion behind ship, location of ship proper, space contraction in front of ship. - Shaping Function: f(rs) = (tanh(σ(rs + R)) - tanh(σ(rs - R))) / (2 tanh(σ R)) - York Time: vs (x/rs) (df(rs)/drs), a measure of expansion/contraction of space. - Energy Density: G_00 / (8π) = - (1 / (8π)) * (vs^2 (y^2 + z^2) / (4 rs^2)) * (df(rs)/drs)^2 Bubble Topology Optimization: York Time magnitude decreases as bubble thickness decreases; Energy density magnitude decreases as bubble thickness decreases (Surface plots of York Time & T00, vs=10c, 10 meter diameter volume, variable warp bubble thickness). Bubble Oscillation Optimization: Oscillate the bubble intensity to reduce overall energy requirements. Warp Field Interferometer developed after putting metric into canonical form (White, H., 'A Discussion on space-time metric engineering,' Gen. Rel. Grav. 35, 2025-2033 (2003)): • Generate microscopic warp bubble that perturbs optical index by 1 part in 10,000,000. • Induce relative phase shift between split beams that should be detectable using 2D Analytic Signal processing. Warp Bubble Detection Attempts Using Interferometry: • Goal: Use interferometer to detect and measure effect of warp bubble on optical path length through the measurement of associated interference fringe shifts. • EWL mitigation of vibrations & air currents: vibration-isolated optical table, vibration-isolated room, optical hood, signal processing, and collecting statistical data to increase signal-to-noise ratio. • Laboratory Setup includes: He-Ne laser, beam splitter, iris, dual polarizers for intensity control, test articles, and isolated room pressure controls. Synthetic Data Modal Analysis: • 1000 synthetic interferogram fringe patterns generated as JPEG image frames with repeating sinusoidal shifting in time (1/10 spatial radian amplitude). • Strong peak observed at 1/5 Nyquist frequency via temporal DFT approach; demonstrated small repetitive shifts can be easily detected. Modal Analysis - Single Patch & Multiple Sample Positions: • 128x128 region DFT calculated, phase series extracted. • Cycled On/Off at 0.25 Hz, frame sampled at 2.5 Hz (3149 samples). • Multi-position sampling across 88 positions in the image plane with 0.4s frame capture rates. • Air dielectric testing with high-voltage device 'Ozona' cycled at 2-second intervals. SDSU Interferometer Setup (Dan Nehlich, South Dakota State University): • Interferometry measurements of a DC toroidal capacitor test article. • Image Subtraction Approach: 2200 unique data points for charge/discharge cycles at 19 kV. • Hough Transform Approach: Edge detection (houghpeaks/houghlines in MATLAB) used to determine fringe line locations and track average shifts of interference pattern. Enhanced Experiments: • Image averaging, Fabry-Perot Interferometer (Etalon with high precision measurement without software averaging), and Time of Flight experiment (~200MHz EO amplitude modulator, Thorlabs APD210 High-Speed Avalanche Detector, Agilent Infiniium DSO9254A 2.5 GHz Oscilloscope). Forward Plan: • DC Toroidal Capacitor Approach: Work with larger sample sets, develop test articles with longer regions of optical influence, utilize image averaging and Fabry-Perot interferometer sensitivity (< 1/100 wavelength). • Explore dθ/dt dependency: Use q-thruster physics models to guide RF frequency test device design for evaluation in warp field interferometers and time of flight experiments. Q-Thruster Principles: • Low-TRL electric propulsion operating by pushing off the quantum vacuum (analogous to a submarine propeller pushing water; propellantless). • Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) used to model interaction with the virtual electron-positron plasma sea of the quantum vacuum. • Aims to achieve specific force competitive for in-space propulsion (~0.1 to 0.4 N/kW) and terrestrial applications (~10 N/kW). Test Data: • 2004 Test Article: 2.13 MHz, ~20kV/m AC electric field, ~27 Gauss AC magnetic field -> ~4 mN thrust, specific force ~0.4 N/kW. • 2005 Test Campaign: 3.8 MHz, ~20kV/m AC electric field, ~48 Gauss AC magnetic field -> ~3 mN thrust, specific force ~0.3 N/kW. • 2012 Test Article: Tested November 2012, vacuum fluctuation density increased from ~1x10^-26 to >1x10^-14. • SFE Test Article at JSC (2013 Boeing/DARPA): ~20-110 µN thrust pulses, specific force ~1-20 N/kW. • Microwave Thruster Devices (SPR Ltd. / Cannae LLC): Resonant cavity devices assessed against Q-thruster models (16-170 mN, specific force 0.02-0.75 N/kW). Mission timelines for a 90t spacecraft (50t cargo, 20t power, 20t propulsion) powered by a 2MW nuclear source: • Mars: 246-day roundtrip mission (70-day stay) at 0.4 N/kW; 140-day mission (90-day stay) at 4 N/kW. • Jupiter: 194 days at 0.4 N/kW; 61 days at 4 N/kW. • Saturn: 263 days at 0.4 N/kW; 86 days at 4 N/kW. • Uranus: 399 days at 0.4 N/kW; 129 days at 4 N/kW. • Neptune: 492 days at 0.4 N/kW; 160 days at 4 N/kW. • Pluto: 518 days at 0.4 N/kW; 167 days at 4 N/kW. • 1000 AU: 5.6 years at 0.4 N/kW; 1.8 years at 4 N/kW. • Proxima Centauri: 122.5 years at 0.4 N/kW; 29.9 years at 4 N/kW. • Principles of Q-Thruster Operation: Local mass concentrations affect vacuum fluctuation density ρv_local = ρv (1 + ρm_local/ρv). Relativistic acceleration and higher-order time derivatives alter apparent vacuum density. • Gravitational Coupling Constant: Derivation from Friedmann Equation over light horizon (~13.7 billion light years, ρ0 = 9.9x10^-27 kg/m3) yields G = 6.45x10^-11 m3/(kg·s2), suggesting gravitation as an emergent long-wavelength consequence of dark energy. • Bohr Radius: Calculating perturbed quantum vacuum state around hydrogen nucleus (nuclear density 2.31x10^17 kg/m3, ρv_local = 3.90x10^-5 kg/m3) matching ground-state energy yields r = 5.29x10^-11 m, exactly matching Bohr radius a0. • Electron Mass: Equating perturbed quantum vacuum field energy to electron kinetic energy yields predicted electron mass me = 9.1x10^-31 kg. • Magnetic Pressure: Calculated perceived magnetic field and plasma pressure around hydrogen nucleus yields P ≈ 6.24x10^7 N/m2, closely matching theoretical magnetic pressure of 6.25x10^7 N/m2.