In one minute

Lucas Timotheo Sanches, Max Morris and Steven Brandt ask whether the Alcubierre warp drive is useful for slower-than-light travel. They observe that the warp bubble protects the ship from dust and debris, a serious hazard even at 10% of light speed. They follow the paths of massive particles through modified warp metrics. In one variant, particles near the ship reach 23% of light speed, while in the original drive particles are reflected at up to 80% of light speed. To handle all these hazards, they add a deflector shield term to the metric that frame-drags particles away from the direction of travel.

Exploring Particle Geodesics in a Warp Drive Spacetime