The Spacetime Metric

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Helmerich and colleagues present Warp Factory, a MATLAB toolkit that computes stress-energy tensors from spacetime metrics using second- and fourth-order finite differences. Its analyzer samples null and timelike vectors because nonnegative energy density for one stationary observer does not establish the energy conditions. A genetic optimization example starts with an Alcubierre bubble of 20 metres radius moving at 0.5c and reduces the integrated null energy condition (NEC) violation measure to 2.1 × 10⁴⁴. The optimization retains fixed passenger and outer boundaries, limiting its ability to remove violations rooted in those boundaries. Their numerical reconstruction of a Lentz geometry also shows weak-condition violations; the authors separately identify smoothing-dependent negative-energy points, preserving the distinction between that reconstruction and the original analytic construction.

Warp Factory: A Numerical Toolkit for the Analysis and Optimization of Warp Drive Geometries

  1. Christopher Helmerich(Author)
  2. Jared Fuchs(Author)
  3. Alexey Bobrick(Author)
  4. Brandon Melcher(Author)
  5. Luke Sellers(Author)
  6. Gianni Martire(Author)

Publication and identifiers

Work type
Paper
Year
2024
Publisher
arXiv
Edition
arXiv:2404.10855v1 manuscript; related conference publication 2023
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Original title
Warp Factory: A Numerical Toolkit for the Analysis and Optimization of Warp Drive Geometries
Attribution
  1. Christopher Helmerich(Author)
  2. Jared Fuchs(Author)
  3. Alexey Bobrick(Author)
  4. Brandon Melcher(Author)
  5. Luke Sellers(Author)
  6. Gianni Martire(Author)
Year
2024
Publisher
arXiv
Edition
arXiv:2404.10855v1 manuscript; related conference publication 2023
Identifiers
Original source links

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A bibliography listing does not establish authorship. Credits appear under attribution.