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What happens when a warp bubble has mass? This seemingly innocent question forces one to carefully formalize exactly what one means by a warp bubble, exactly what one means by having the warp bubble “move” with respect to the fixed stars, and forces one to more carefully examine the notion of mass in warp-drive spacetimes. This is the goal of the present article. In this process, we will see that often-made throw-away comments regarding “payloads” are even simpler than commonly assumed, while there are two further, distinct yet subtle ways in which a mass can appear in connection with a warp drive space-time: One, that the warp bubble (not its payload) has the mass; two, that the mass is a background feature in front of which the warp drive moves. For simplicity, we consider generic Natário warp drives with zero-vorticity flow field. The resulting spacetimes are sufficiently simple to allow an exact and fully explicit computation of all of the stress-energy components, and verify that (as expected) the null energy condition (NEC) is violated. Likewise the weak, strong, and dominant energy conditions (WEC, SEC, DEC) are violated. Indeed, this confirms the community’s folk wisdom, and recent (fully general, but implicit) results of the present authors which closed previous gaps in the argument. However, folk wisdom should be carefully and critically examined before being believed, and the present examples for general results will greatly aid physical intuition.

We conduct a detailed analysis of Natário’s “zero-expansion” warp drive spacetime, focusing on scalar curvature invariants within the 3 + 1 formalism. This paper has four primary objectives: First, we establish the Petrov type classification of Natário’s spacetime, which has not been previously determined in the literature. We prove that Natário’s spacetime is Petrov type I, not fitting the Class B warped product spacetime definition. Second, we assess the relative magnitude of the Weyl scalar curvature invariant and compare it with the amplitudes of Einstein’s scalar and the Ricci quadratic and cubic invariants within the warp-bubble zone. Previous studies have focused on Ricci curvature and the energy-momentum tensor, neglecting the Weyl curvature, which we demonstrate plays a significant role due to the sharp localization of the form function near the warp-bubble radius. Third, we visualize several curvature invariants for Natário’s warp drive, as well as momentum density, which we show as the critical physical quantity governing the orientation of the warp drive trajectory, overshadowing space volume changes. Fourth, we critically examine claims that Natário’s warp drive is more realistic than Alcubierre’s. We demonstrate that Natário’s spacetime exhibits curvature invariant amplitudes 35 times greater than Alcubierre’s, given identical warp-bubble parameters, making Natário’s concept even less viable. Additionally, we address Mattingly et al.’s analysis, highlighting their underestimation of curvature invariant amplitudes by 21 orders of magnitude.

In the Alcubierre warp-drive spacetime, we investigate the following scalar curvature invariants: the scalar I , derived from a quadratic contraction of the Weyl tensor, the trace R of the Ricci tensor, and the quadratic r1 and cubic r2 invariants from the trace-adjusted Ricci tensor. In four-dimensional spacetime the trace-adjusted Einstein and Ricci tensors are identical, and their unadjusted traces are oppositely signed yet equal in absolute value. This allows us to express these Ricci invariants using Einstein‘s curvature tensor, facilitating a direct interpretation of the energy-momentum tensor. We present detailed plots illustrating the distribution of these invariants. Our findings underscore the requirement for four distinct layers of an anisotropic stress-energy tensor to create the warp bubble. Additionally, we delve into the Kretschmann quadratic invariant decomposition. We provide a critical analysis of the work by Mattingly et al., particularly their underrepresentation of curvature invariants in their plots by 8 to 16 orders of magnitude. A comparison is made between the spacetime curvature of the Alcubierre warp-drive and that of a Schwarzschild black hole with a mass equivalent to the planet Saturn. The paper addresses potential misconceptions about the Alcubierre warp-drive due to inaccuracies in representing spacetime curvature changes and clarifies the classification of the Alcubierre spacetime, emphasizing its distinction from class B warped product spacetimes.

Gödel's metric (1949) describes a homogeneous and rotating universe unveiling the ex-istence of closed time-like curves (CTCs) which make it feasible to go on a journey into one's own past. In the first part of this paper we follow Gödel's initial work and its conclusions but we show that his metric as it stands does not represent a cosmolog-ical model. Introducing a simple conformal factor readily induces a pressure term that straightforwardly leads to a perfect Huid field equation. This term was wrongly inter-preted by Gödel as the ad hoc cosmological constant he was forced to introducé in order for his solution to satisfy Einstein's field equations. The theory is now endowed with a physical meaning and the dynamics no longer apply to the space but to a fluid which can be acted upon. In the second part, we investigate the possibility of creating a time machine materialized by a specific warp drive device travelling along a Gödel closed curve. The third part is devoted to highlighting the properties resulting from our model and some conjectures as to reversed CTCs.

Analogue gravity systems offer many insights into gravitational phenomena, both at the classical and at the semiclassical level. The existence of an underlying Minkowskian structure (or Galilean in the non-relativistic limit) in the laboratory has been argued to directly forbid the simulation of geometries with Closed Timelike Curves (CTCs) within analogue systems. We will show that this is not strictly the case. In principle, it is possible to simulate spacetimes with CTCs whenever this does not entail the presence of a chronological horizon separating regions with CTCs from regions that do not have CTCs. We find an Analogue-gravity Chronology protection mechanism very similar in spirit to Hawking’s Chronology Protection hypothesis. We identify the universal behaviour of analogue systems near the formation of such horizons and discuss the further implications that this analysis has from an emergent gravity perspective. Furthermore, we build explicit geometries containing CTCs, for instance spacetimes constructed from two warp-drive configurations, that might be useful for future analysis, both from a theoretical and an experimental point of view.

This work analyzes the Darmois junction conditions matching an interior Alcubierre warp drive spacetime to an exterior Minkowski geometry. The joining hypersurface requires that the shift vector of the warp drive spacetime satisfy the solution of a particular inviscid Burgers equation, namely, the gauge where the shift vector is not a function of the y and z spacetime coordinates. Such a gauge connects the warp drive metric to shock waves via a Burgers-type equation, which was previously found to be an Einstein equation vacuum solution for the warp drive geometry. It is also shown that not all Ricci and Riemann tensor components are zero at the joining hypersurface; for that to happen, they depend on the shift vector solution of the inviscid Burgers equation at the joining wall. This means that the warp drive geometry is not globally flat.

Negative energy scenarios are the most widely studied for the warp metric. In fact, the prevailing view in the community so far has been that the warp metric necessarily has negative energies. In this work it is shown that the issue of negative energy densities associated with the Alcubierre warp metric with a general form function and similar metrics can be addressed when the whole non-vacuum Einstein equations of the system are examined. To this end, we have considered matter content in the form of anisotropic fluids. We have succeeded in writing the Einstein equations in such a way that some general constraints on the material content become evident. This means that, in rectangular coordinates, the energy density depends necessarily on the tangential pressures of the fluid. For matter such as dust or isotropic fluids we find that that density and other related quantities become identically zero. This makes the negative energy problem spurious. It is also revealed that constructing Alcubierre-based metrics using cylindrical and spherical coordinates results in a system of equations that are amenable to more systematic analysis. The field equations constrain the dependence of the form function and how this impacts the matter content. In all cases we determine that energy density is not mandatory negative, despite the recurrent claims in the literature. This result prompts a reevaluation of the negative energy requirements and underscore the importance of cylindrical and spherical type-warps to demonstrate that negative energy density is not an intrinsic unavoidable feature of warp drives.

The Alcubierre warp drive metric is a spacetime geometry featuring a spacetime distortion, called a warp bubble, where a massive particle inside it acquires global superluminal velocities, or warp speeds. This work presents solutions of the Einstein equations for the Alcubierre metric having fluid matter as gravity source. The energy–momentum tensor considered has two fluid contents, the perfect fluid and the parametrized perfect fluid (PPF), a tentative more flexible model whose aim is to explore the possibilities of warp drive solutions with positive matter density content. Santos-Pereira et al. (Eur Phys J C 80:786, 2020) already showed that the Alcubierre metric having dust as source connects this geometry to the Burgers equation, which describes shock waves moving through an inviscid fluid, but led the solutions back to vacuum. The same happened for two out of four solutions subcases for the perfect fluid. Other solutions for the perfect fluid indicate the possibility of warp drive with positive matter density, but at the cost of a complex solution for the warp drive regulating function. Regarding the PPF, solutions were also obtained indicating that warp speeds could be created with positive matter density. Weak, dominant, strong and null energy conditions were calculated for all studied subcases, being satisfied for the perfect fluid and creating constraints in the PPF quantities such that a positive matter density is also possible for creating a warp bubble. Summing up all results, energy–momentum tensors describing more complex forms of matter or field distributions generate solutions for the Einstein equations with the warp drive metric where a negative matter density might not be a strict precondition for attaining warp speeds.

In this work we introduce the Alcubierre warp metric using spherical symmetry. In this way we write the Einstein equations for a perfect fluid and for an anisotropic fluid with cosmological constant. Analysing the energy conditions for both cases, we find that these cases are flexible enough to allow them to be satisfied. We also find that in the time-independent case of the warp bubble, the metric admits a timelike Killing vector and all the energy conditions are satisfied except for the strong energy condition. Moreover, in the time-independent case a barotropic equation of state known from cosmological models naturally arises.

A bstract In this work we analyse the potential for a warp drive spacetime to develop instabilities due to the presence of quantum matter. Particularly, we look for points of infinite blueshift (which are analogous to points of a black hole inner horizon, known for its semiclassical instability), and categorise them through the behaviour of geodesics in their vicinity. We find that warp-drive bubbles in dimension 2+1 or higher are in fact likely to be stable, as they generally contain only isolated points where divergences are approached, leading to a finite limit for the overall accumulation of destabilising energy. Furthermore, any semiclassical instabilities in the warp drive due to energy-density buildups can be further diminished with particular, more “aerodynamic” shapes and trajectories for the drive.