Alien Warp-Drive Searches with Gravitational Wave Detectors
Warp-drive technology of alien spaceships might be discoverable through examining spatial ripples, claim researchers
In a groundbreaking study, scientists have proposed a new method for detecting technologically advanced alien civilisations that have mastered warp-speed travel. The research, led by Dr Katy Clough from Queen Mary University of London, focuses on using gravitational wave detectors to identify unique gravitational wave signatures produced by warp-drive propulsion systems.
The study, titled "What no one has seen before: gravitational waveforms from warp drive collapse," published in the Open Journal of Astrophysics, is based on the Alcubierre warp-drive metric. This speculative physics suggests that warp-drive propulsion involves manipulating spacetime to allow faster-than-light travel, resulting in distinct gravitational effects detectable as gravitational waves.
The researchers predict that such propulsion would generate high-frequency gravitational wave bursts due to the collapse or dynamics of the warp bubble enclosing the spacecraft. These bursts, if detected within about 1000 light-years of Earth, could be feasible using advanced gravitational wave observatories combined with electromagnetic and neutrino data in a Bayesian multi-messenger approach, potentially yielding a detection probability above 85% under plausible assumptions.
Current gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA, have the sensitivity needed to detect complex gravitational wave signals, as demonstrated by detecting massive black hole mergers. The detection framework would combine gravitational wave data with electromagnetic emissions and possibly exotic particle emissions to differentiate artificial warp signals from astrophysical background noise.
The collapse of a warp bubble could produce powerful gravitational wave signatures distinguishable from natural cosmic sources, making such events prime technosignatures to search for. If the outgoing waves from a warp bubble collapse interacted with normal matter, they could produce another signature of the event.
The study also explores the possibility of using gravitational wave detectors to find ripples in spacetime emitted by the bubble collapse of warp-drive technology. The signal generated from a warp bubble of about 1km in size is a short, high-frequency burst, currently beyond the abilities of detectors to pick up. However, future higher-frequency instruments might be able to detect such signals.
The team behind the warp-drive study includes researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Cardiff University, the University of Potsdam, and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. Dr Sebastian Khan, a co-author of the study, is from Cardiff University's School of Physics and Astronomy.
The first warp drive solution was created by Miguel Alcubierre during his PhD at Cardiff University in 1994. Warp-drive technology, as described in Einstein's theory of General Relativity, enables faster-than-light travel by compressing spacetime.
The implications of this research could help us better understand the evolution and origin of our universe, or the avoidance of singularities at the center of black holes. The study accurately models the dynamics of negative energy spacetimes, a novelty in the field.
Professor Tim Dietrich from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is a co-author of the study. The team plans to investigate how different warp drive models would produce different signals and the collapse of bubbles traveling at speeds exceeding the speed of light.
This approach leverages current and future multi-messenger astronomy capabilities to extend traditional SETI methods beyond electromagnetic signals into the gravitational domain. The first confirmed detection of gravitational waves was announced on 11 February 2016 by David Reitze.
- The study, "What no one has seen before: gravitational waveforms from warp drive collapse," published in the Open Journal of Astrophysics, uses gravitational wave detectors to look for unique signatures produced by technologically advanced alien civilizations' warp-drive propulsion systems, as described in Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
- If advanced gravitational wave observatories combined with electromagnetic and neutrino data are used in a Bayesian multi-messenger approach, the study predicts that high-frequency gravitational wave bursts from warp-drive propulsion could be detectable within about 1000 light-years of Earth, potentially yielding a detection probability above 85%.
- The team plans to investigate how different warp-drive models would produce different signals and the collapse of bubbles traveling at speeds exceeding the speed of light, which could help us better understand the evolution and origin of our universe, or the avoidance of singularities at the center of black holes.
