Warp Propulsion
Warp propulsion is the technology that allows space travel at faster-than-light speeds. It works by generating warp fields to form a subspace bubble that enveloped the starship, distorting the local spacetime continuum and moving the starship at velocities that can greatly exceed the speed of light. These velocities are referred to as warp factors. Warp drive is the most common form of interstellar propulsion used in the Milky Way Galaxy, making interstellar civilization, exploration, and commerce possible.
Warp Drive
The key to the creation of propulsion from the generation of warp fields lies in the creation of nesting many layers of warp field energy, each layer exerting a controlled amount of force against its next outermost neighbor. The cumulative effect of the force applied drives the starship forward. Warp field coils in the engine nacelles are energized in sequential order, fore to aft. The firing frequency determines the number of field layers, a greater number of layers per unit time being required at higher warp factors. Each new field layer expands outward from the nacelles, experiences a rapid force coupling and decoupling at variable distances from the nacelles, simultaneously transferring energy and separating from the previous layer at velocities between 0.5 and 0.9 times the speed of light (c). This is well within the bounds of traditional physics, effectively circumventing the limits of General and Special, and Transformational Relativity. During force coupling the radiated energy makes the necessary transition into subspace, applying an apparent mass reduction effect to the spacecraft. This facilitates the slippage of the spacecraft through the sequencing layers of warp field energy.
Warp Factors
The cochrane is the unit used to measure subspace field strength. Cochranes are also used to measure field distortion generated by other spatial manipulation devices, including tractor beams, deflectors, and synthetic gravity fields. Fields below Warp 1 are measured in millicochranes.
A subspace field of one thousand millicochranes or greater becomes the familiar warp field. Field intensity for each warp factor increases geometrically and is a function of the total of the individual field layer values. Note that the cochrane value for a given warp factor corresponds to the apparent velocity of a spacecraft traveling at that warp factor. For example, a ship traveling at Warp Factor 3 is maintaining a warp field of at least 39 cochranes and is therefore traveling at 39 times c, the speed of light. Approximate values for integer warp factors are:
| Warp Factor | Field Strength |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 cochrane |
| 2 | 10 cochranes |
| 3 | 39 cochranes |
| 4 | 102 cochranes |
| 5 | 214 cochranes |
| 6 | 392 cochranes |
| 7 | 656 cochranes |
| 8 | 1024 cochranes |
| 9 | 1516 cochranes |
It is obvious that these values are insufficient if we consider that starships have crossed distances of 1,000 light years in less than one month, a trip which would take almost a year at Warp 8 based on these approximations alone.
The actual values are dependent upon interstellar conditions, e.g., gas density, electric and magnetic fields within the different regions of the Milky Way galaxy, and fluctuations in the subspace domain. Actual warp speeds relative to the speed of light may be calculated by multiplying the subspace field value in cochranes by a variable that accounts for the curvature of space in a fourth dimension by the presence of mass; subspace, a continuum in which a vessel under warp drive travels, is not curved in a fourth spatial dimension, and therefore offers a linear "shortcut" between points in our galaxy. This variable, called Cochrane's factor, can be as high as 1,500 in dense dust and gas clouds and as little as 1 in the intergalactic void. It is larger near massive objects such as stars and black holes, as space is curved around such objects to an even greater extent. For practical reasons, warp drive is not used in the vicinity of massive objects, as the disproportionately high warp speeds tend to produce a "slingshot effect," catapulting a starship out of this space-time continuum altogether. Between galaxies, where negligible matter exists, space is not perceptibly curved, and the shortcut afforded by Cochrane's factor disappears.
Warp Power
The amount of power required to maintain a given warp factor is a function of the cochrane value of the warp field. However, the energy required to initially establish the field is much greater, and is called the peak transitional threshold. Once that threshold has been crossed, the amount of power required to maintain a given warp factor is lessened. While the current engine designs allow for control of unprecedented amounts of energy, the warp driver coil electrodynamic efficiency decreases as the warp factor increases. Ongoing studies indicate, however, that no new materials breakthroughs are anticipated to produce increased high warp factor endurance.
Warp fields exceeding a given warp factor, but lacking the energy to cross the threshold to the next higher level, are called fractional warp factors. Travel at a given fractional warp factor can be significantly faster than travel at the next lower integral warp, but for extended travel, it is often more energy-efficient to simply increase to the next higher integral warp factor.
Theoretical Limits
Eugene's Limit allows for warp stress to increase asymptotically, approaching but never reaching a value corresponding to Warp Factor 10. As field values approach ten, power requirements rise geometrically, while the aforementioned driver coil efficiency drops dramatically. The required force coupling and decoupling of the warp field layers rise to unattainable frequencies, exceeding not only the flight system's control capabilities, but more important the limit imposed by Planck time (5x10-44 s). Even if it were possible to expend the theoretically infinite amount of energy required, an object at Warp 10 would be traveling infinitely fast, occupying all points in the universe simultaneously.
