Stopping a Warp Bubble: The Horizon Problem and the Deceleration Budget
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Formation is only half of any journey. This paper examines the other half for a warp bubble of one hundred metres radius: how it stops. At ship speeds above light speed a horizon separates the interior from the forward wall, so no signal from the occupants can reach the part of the geometry that must change for the bubble to slow; the signal lag across the bubble, 3.34e-07 seconds at light speed, becomes infinite in effect beyond it. The energy that must be withdrawn to stop equals the formation budget, 1.01e+47 joules at the headline wall thickness, and it must be withdrawn by agents outside the bubble, along the route, acting on a schedule laid down before departure. The verdict is plain: a superluminal warp bubble is not a vehicle but a projectile, launched rather than flown, and any route it travels must be prepared as a track with the stopping machinery built in advance. Computed schematically, not measured.
Author: Aldred, William Alexander
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225830666
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