Abstract
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.
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Barceló, C., Boyanov, V., Garay, L.J. et al. Warp drive aerodynamics. J. High Energ. Phys. 2022, 288 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)288
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)288