Science fiction technology: Warp (Star Trek)

In this series of posts, we will talk about many Star Trek technologies, such as warp, light engines, and similar sci-fi and technology-like achievements today.

Wrap, also known as “warping,” is a technology of space-time curvature using plasma and multilayer curvature coils, which can be found in different variations in different races.

Each race with warp technology and above is officially recognized as being sufficiently developed to go out into space and collaborate openly with all other races, at least according to the rules of the alpha quadrant.
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Warp itself is not an engine, it does not move the ship, it shifts the space-time inside the zone around the ship, relative to the space-time outside it. It is not explainable how ships can catch up with each other on the warp, because for this it is not enough that we need the most accurate warp generators (gondolas, rings, etc.), so also the sensors must be superluminal and without distortion. As for the sensors, they use a subspace in which all signals reach from point to point instantly, which does not allow to find out the distance to the target, only the direction.



Also, warp is the source of almost all space-time distortions in serials, where ships, reaching 10 warp on the old scale, begin to move with infinite speed and find themselves at all points of time and space, which has been achieved more than once, but not explained, as a fabric of space time it carries and regulates such interventions.

Why 10 warp last?
Warp is layered on the zone around the ship, each layer requires more and more energy, but also allows you to bend space-time even more, which gives priority to speed. The picture below shows the energy cost scale (yellow) of the warp, which clearly illustrates how the energy cost decreases when the jump (the imposition of a new layer) on the new warp factor.



There are 2 scales, before and after upgrading Cochrane systems, the creator of the warp engine on the ground.
The old one is limited to 10 warp, the second one is slightly expanded and after warp 10 it is followed by 11, 12, 13 and so on, with the countdown going to 15, while the warp 13 will be approximately equal to the warp 9.95 on the old scale.

Warp is also a fairly flexible field, which is shown in different numbers and shapes of emitters. The simplest type of warp emitters is a ring around a ship. These are used by the Vulcans and the XCV330 was built with such a system.



Another option is 1 gondola bottom, top or through the central axis of the ship.
Also very often, almost all races use a variation with 2 gondolas, usually on the sides of the ship.
However, this is not all, there are modifications that can be considered transitional from a full ring (it has the smallest cost of applying each new field) to a single-gondola type, which can be detected using 3 or more gondolas, sometimes with different configurations, to make the warp field cheaper and resilient. But this affects the energy consumption at speeds of less than 5 warp, which is why such structures are usually used on the fastest ships and ships where you need to minimize the cost of superluminal movement and transfer energy to shields and weapons.

Such ships often become military dreadnoughts and quick-response cruisers. Almost every ship in Star Trek has an analogue with 3-4 or even 5 gondolas, which also represents a smooth transition between different modifications and new ship hulls.



Among other things, in Star Trek, the warp field does not create space-time gaps between the objects in front and behind, which translates into the need to repel space debris and dust from the ship in front so that it does not hit it at superluminal speed by making a hole in the hull.

It also shows that ships cannot pass through stars and planets, as if pushing their space-time, which also forces us to route the route not directly, but taking into account all oncoming large objects.

Warp technologies have great advantages, but also disadvantages, such as the need for constant feeding of high-power plasma flows to each ring, as well as space-time requirements and the presence of a subspace, which collectively results in a Cochrane number other than 0.

The Cochrane number is the coefficient by which the entire power of the warp field is multiplied, which gives the real power of the warp field. If it is 0, warp is impossible, it also means that the subspace fabric is burned in this space-time, which usually occurs when omega particles explode. Accordingly, the Federation and some other cosmic powers by all means prevent the creation of new omega molecules, which, in addition to a huge explosion, can create a complete rupture of subspace within a pair of solar systems.
If the Cochrane number in the limit is from 0 to 1, then warp is possible, although not at full capacity.
When the Cochrane number is greater than 1, the zone becomes super-efficient and through such “roads” you can travel on the warp with much lower costs and greater speed.

Gradually, complicating the design of the coils and the power of the warp reactor, together with the accuracy of all systems responsible for controlling the warp field, the Federation reached Warp 10, which in the first such throw (pilot Tom Paris, the Voyager series) gave on the pilot.



After that, the 10th warp was not used in the series, but later, as you know, the data from Voyager were analyzed by Federation scientists and on their basis the first stable trans-temporal warp engine was created, which allowed traveling in time and space without the risk of genetic changes without time costs. However, this development was almost immediately classified by Section 31, but some of its details had time to leak to other races and in the last series Janeway stole the prototype of such an engine from one scientist, which allowed her to change the story.

In addition to Voyager, the 10th Warp also featured in the “New Generation”, which is shown in one of the series where the Enterprise was accelerated by the influence of a transient creature who became interested in the abilities of the young Wesley Crasher when he learned to work a little on the ship and the warp field with this creatures. As a result, the entire ship with more than 900 people on board was in all places at the same time, but this was not the end. The ship began to obey the thoughts of the crew, most often their fears, which shows a strong increase in mental influence in such an amazing space.

But before entering this space, a transitional border was shown, which was so beautiful that you need to see it yourself (the last picture, the full name of the series “Where no one has gone before”):



But even without opening such an engine, Ambassador Spock himself could calculate the necessary parameters for movement in time using gravity of especially massive objects, like stars and black holes, which is shown in the TOC series and in the 4th film. (I’m sure he wasn’t the only one who thought of this afterwards, since all the ship’s reports were naturally read by the Admirals and intelligence, which suggests that it was because of Spock that the whole story began with the main time directive)

In the Enterprise it also turns out that in the 22nd century there is a temporary war in which many races of our galaxy participate and which was initiated by a race not from our galaxy, which is trying to change the space-time for itself.



However, the warp in this series was not used as a journey through time, all such transitions were the result of using either portable devices that bend a whole area of ​​space-time around a person or several people, or if the warp field is not properly controlled when going through space anomalies that are they represent unstable wormholes, in which it is often necessary, in addition to warp fields, to have screen adaptation from temporal radiation and other types of radiation.

As a result, warp is the first, but not the most advanced technology of movement in space-time, but it is from him that all other technologies come, such as trans-temporary warp, slipstream, creating abrupt transitions in time using massive objects that existed in the past and now , as well as various kinds of accelerators, such as the “space catapult”, shown in one of the Voyager series.