https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6382/abdf6e This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to our use of cookies. To find out more, see our Privacy and Cookies policy. Close this notification Accessibility Links * Skip to content * Skip to search IOPscience * Skip to Journals list * Accessibility help [iops-logo] IOP Science home * Skip to content * Accessibility Help [icon-searc] Search Journals Journals list Browse more than 100 science journal titles Subject collections Read the very best research published in IOP journals Publishing partners Partner organisations and publications Open access IOP Publishing open access policy guide IOP Conference Series Read open access proceedings from science conferences worldwide Books Publishing Support Login IOPscience login / Sign Up Click here to close this panel. Primary search Search all IOPscience content [ ] [Search] Article Lookup Select journal (required) [Class. Quantum Grav. (1984 - present) ] Volume number: [ ] Issue number (if known): [ ] Article or page number: [ ] [Lookup] Classical and Quantum Gravity Paper Introducing physical warp drives Alexey Bobrick^2,1 and Gianni Martire^1 Published 20 April 2021 * (c) 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd Classical and Quantum Gravity, Volume 38, Number 10 Citation Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire 2021 Class. Quantum Grav. 38 105009 Figures Tables References 4476 Total downloads Turn off MathJax Turn on MathJax Get permission to re-use this article Share this article * Share this content via email * Share on Facebook (opens new window) * Share on Twitter (opens new window) * Share on Mendeley (opens new window) Article information Author e-mails alexey.bobrick@appliedphysics.org Author affiliations ^1 Advanced Propulsion Laboratory at Applied Physics, 477 Madison Avenue, New York, 10022, United States of America Author notes ^2 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed. ORCID iDs Alexey Bobrick https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4674-0704 Dates 1. Received 30 September 2020 2. Revised 6 January 2021 3. Accepted 25 January 2021 4. Published 20 April 2021 Check for updates using Crossmark Peer review information Method: Single-anonymous Revisions: 1 Screened for originality? Yes DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/abdf6e Buy this article in print Journal RSS Sign up for new issue notifications Create citation alert 0264-9381/38/10/105009 Abstract The Alcubierre warp drive is an exotic solution in general relativity. It allows for superluminal travel at the cost of enormous amounts of matter with negative mass density. For this reason, the Alcubierre warp drive has been widely considered unphysical. In this study, we develop a model of a general warp drive spacetime in classical relativity that encloses all existing warp drive definitions and allows for new metrics without the most serious issues present in the Alcubierre solution. We present the first general model for subliminal positive-energy, spherically symmetric warp drives; construct superluminal warp-drive solutions which satisfy quantum inequalities; provide optimizations for the Alcubierre metric that decrease the negative energy requirements by two orders of magnitude; and introduce a warp drive spacetime in which space capacity and the rate of time can be chosen in a controlled manner. Conceptually, we demonstrate that any warp drive, including the Alcubierre drive, is a shell of regular or exotic material moving inertially with a certain velocity. Therefore, any warp drive requires propulsion. We show that a class of subluminal, spherically symmetric warp drive spacetimes, at least in principle, can be constructed based on the physical principles known to humanity today Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS Previous article in issue Next article in issue Access this article The computer you are using is not registered by an institution with a subscription to this article. Please choose one of the options below. Login IOPscience login Find out more about journal subscriptions at your site. Purchase from Article Galaxy CCC RightFind Purchase this article from our trusted document delivery partners. Rent from Purchase this article on DeepDyve. Opens in new tab Make a recommendation To gain access to this content, please complete the Recommendation Form and we will follow up with your librarian or Institution on your behalf. For corporate researchers we can also follow up directly with your R& D manager, or the information management contact at your company. 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