DARPA researchers accidently create nanoscale warp bubble using Casimir force

[Stuart LaForge]

I haven't had time to properly read this yet because I am rushing out
the door to work, but I damn near spit out my morning coffee when I
read this. :)


https://thedebrief.org/darpa-funded-researchers-accidentally-create-the-worlds-first-warp-bubble/
https://epjc.epj.org/articles/epjc/abs/2021/07/10052_2021_Article_9484/10052_2021_Article_9484.html

Abstract
While conducting analysis related to a DARPA-funded project to
evaluate possible structure of the energy density present in a Casimir
cavity as predicted by the dynamic vacuum model, a micro/nano-scale
structure has been discovered that predicts negative energy density
distribution that closely matches requirements for the Alcubierre
metric. The simplest notional geometry being analyzed as part of the
DARPA-funded work consists of a standard parallel plate Casimir cavity
equipped with pillars arrayed along the cavity mid-plane with the
purpose of detecting a transient electric field arising from vacuum
polarization conjectured to occur along the midplane of the cavity. An
analytic technique called worldline numerics was adapted to
numerically assess vacuum response to the custom Casimir cavity, and
these numerical analysis results were observed to be qualitatively
quite similar to a two-dimensional representation of energy density
requirements for the Alcubierre warp metric. Subsequently, a toy model
consisting of a 1 m diameter sphere centrally located in a 4 m
diameter cylinder was analyzed to show a three-dimensional Casimir
energy density that correlates well with the Alcubierre warp metric
requirements. This qualitative correlation would suggest that
chip-scale experiments might be explored to attempt to measure tiny
signatures illustrative of the presence of the conjectured phenomenon:
a real, albeit humble, warp bubble.

Stuart LaForge

[Giulio Prisco]

Cool! I don't know the source ("The Debrief') and can't say if it's
real or fake (you never know these days), but they link to a paper
published in a physics journal:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepjc%2Fs10052-021-09484-z

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[Lawrence Crowell]

The warp bubble is probably sublight speed. The negative vacuum or quantum field states are stable. Above the speed of light there are horizons that caussaly disconnect the warp bubble. Further the quantum field becomes unstable.

LC

[John Clark]

On Tue, Dec 7, 2021 at 8:20 PM Lawrence Crowell <goldenfield...@gmail.com> wrote:

> The warp bubble is probably sublight speed. The negative vacuum or quantum field states are stable. Above the speed of light there are horizons that caussaly disconnect the warp bubble. Further the quantum field becomes unstable.

I rather doubt this new result will turn out to be real, but I hope I'm wrong. If it's true then even if it's limited to sublight speed it seems to me it would open up the possibility of a reactionless drive, and that would not be a bad day's work, it would certainly be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. But I'm not quite ready to book a flight on an interplanetary cruise ship around the rings of Saturn just yet.

John K Clark

[Lawrence Crowell]

The Casimir vacuum provides the energy conditions required for the warp drive. The negative vacuum can be a source for hyperbolic geometry for exotic structures such as wormholes and warp drives. This does lead to some mystery. for the vacuum energy is related to the moduli of curves, such as in the Poincare disk and half-plane, and this is also in some ways related to the moduli of gauge symmetry. Each curve bounds a region, thinking in 2-dimensions, and this region is associated with entropy and curvature. For this to work the vacuum has to be stable, which means it is Virasoro or CFT_2 or more. I think this imposes this limit on the warp bubble as being sub-light speed. It might exist, and for various reasons it would be a fascinating development for the foundations of physics. This is not to say I think we will be using this for spaceships, at least not at all soon.

LC

[Stuart LaForge]

I don't know if the negative energy densities afforded by the Casimir force would allow superluminal effects, but it does present a tantalizing mechanism for Leonard Susskind's ER = EPR conjecture. If the Casimir effect at short distances can give rise to enough negative energy to form microscopic Einstein-Rosen bridges, then it could explain quantum entanglement, quantum leaps, tunneling, and other quantum strangeness. Particle delocalization could be an effect of subatomic superluminal warp bubbles. I don't have the math to back this up, for the time being, but I think it is an interesting idea.

Stuart LaForge