Indeed, even low-end Markov Drives are capable of 51.1 c. Fast, but still slower than the velocities of many FTL particles. A velocity of 0 in subluminal space translates to around 1.7 c in superluminal space. What does this mean when motion is relative? That you are at rest with regard to whatever reference point you choose, whether that be an outside observer or the destination you wish to travel to. This, of course, would be a major disadvantage of FTL travel if ships weren’t encased in a Markov Bubble when superluminal (more on this later).Īs one can see in the graph, it is possible to have a velocity of 0 in subluminal space. If, instead, one speeds up, traveling at ever higher multiples of c, you would age faster and faster compared to the rest of the universe. However, in FTL, approaching c means slowing down. That is, the universe will age far faster than a spaceship barreling along at 99% of c. In both STL and FTL, as one approaches c, one ages slower with regard to the larger universe. And while rest mass in subluminal space is real, positive, and increases due to special relativity as v approaches c in luminal space, rest mass is zero and v always = c and in superluminal space, rest mass is imaginary at v= c, but becomes real, positive, and decreases when moving faster than c.Īn implication of this is the reversal of time dilation effects with regard to acceleration. Since increasing speed moves you away from c in FTL, there is no upper limit to tachyonic speeds, although there are practical limits, given the minimal level of energy needed to maintain particle integrity (remember, less energy = more speed in superluminal space). However, in FTL space, the speed of light is the slowest possible speed, not the fastest, and you can never quite slow down to it, not as long as you possess mass. In normal, STL space, expending energy (e.g., shooting propellent out the back of your spaceship) can move you closer to the speed of light. First, that just as a subluminal particle can never reach the speed of light c, neither can a superluminal particle. Here the v= c asymptote vertical represents the fluidic spacetime membrane (which has a negligible but non-zero thickness).īy examining this graph, a number of things will become immediately and intuitively clear. With regard to the superluminal, substituting relativistic mass for proper mass allows superluminal mass and energy to become definable, non-imaginary properties. By combining several of the equations of special relativity, the underlying relativistic symmetry between subluminal, luminal, and superluminal particles becomes clear. However, nothing in special relativity prevents a massless particle from always traveling the speed of light (i.e., a photon), nor from always traveling faster than light (i.e., a tachyon). Not only would that require an infinite amount of energy, doing so would break causality, and as later, practical demonstrations have shown, the universe does not break causality on a non-quantum scale. Per Einstein’s formulations for special relativity (coupled with Lorentz trans- formations), no particle with real mass can accelerate to the speed of light. Prior to that, thinking was constrained by the limitations of general relativity. Markov’s brilliance was in recognizing the fluidic nature of spacetime and demonstrating the existence of the different luminal realms, as outlined in the earlier, purely theoretical work of Froning, Meholic, and Gauthier around the turn of the twenty-first century. Empirical confirmation followed soon afterward, and the first working prototype of an FTL drive was constructed in 2114. Even the most powerful fusion drives lack the delta-v to jet between the stars as we do now.Īlthough long theorized, superluminal travel did not become a practical reality until Ilya Markov codified the unified field theory (UFT) in 2107. Without it, expansion beyond the Solar System would be impossible, barring centuries-long trips on generational ships or automated seed ships that would grow colonists in situ upon arrival. Let this serve as a primer and quick reference guide for later, more serious studies.įTL travel is the defining technology of our modern era. necessary to outline a brief overview of the fundamentals. Appendix I from To Sleep in a Sea of StarsĮxcerpt from the Entropic Principia (revised)

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