_Oz
Chrono Cadet
The speed of light is best considered Warp 1. Warp 2 is double the speed of light. Warp 3 is four times Warp 2. Eight times Warp 3 is called Warp 4, and so on. It is not possible to accelerate to or between warp speeds. There is no limit to the exponential series, and the higher warp speeds you go, the farther you travel forwards or backwards in time (relative to some static inertial frame). This is due largely in part because of time dilation.
Warp distances are commonly measured in "clicks." For example, Proxima Centauri B is 4.33 lightyears away & can take up to 76,000 years to reach with 2020 technology...but if you were to hop in your local warp machine, and dial it up to Warp 2--suddenly the closest system to Earth is 2.16 clicks away. Relatively speaking, it feels like half the distance and time for travel for an observer onboard the warp ship. The only reason you'd ever even want to travel as slow as Warp 1 or 2, is to minimize divergence (more on that another day)
So, if it is impossible for an object with mass to accelerate to Warp 1, how is it even possible to go Warp 2,3,4? There's a few solutions to the problem, the common being "you start by hitching a ride on a beam of light & go from there" to the more exotic "You really just fold the space between you and your endpoint & then step over." The former requires this movement to be done by abandoning your mass-body. In other words, your digital mind can ride on a beam of light and beyond...but not your physical body. For that you'd need the later; to literally fold the fabric of spacetime in such a way that you can step from your porch -> to Proxima Centauri -> as easily as stepping through a doorway.
-Oz
Warp distances are commonly measured in "clicks." For example, Proxima Centauri B is 4.33 lightyears away & can take up to 76,000 years to reach with 2020 technology...but if you were to hop in your local warp machine, and dial it up to Warp 2--suddenly the closest system to Earth is 2.16 clicks away. Relatively speaking, it feels like half the distance and time for travel for an observer onboard the warp ship. The only reason you'd ever even want to travel as slow as Warp 1 or 2, is to minimize divergence (more on that another day)
So, if it is impossible for an object with mass to accelerate to Warp 1, how is it even possible to go Warp 2,3,4? There's a few solutions to the problem, the common being "you start by hitching a ride on a beam of light & go from there" to the more exotic "You really just fold the space between you and your endpoint & then step over." The former requires this movement to be done by abandoning your mass-body. In other words, your digital mind can ride on a beam of light and beyond...but not your physical body. For that you'd need the later; to literally fold the fabric of spacetime in such a way that you can step from your porch -> to Proxima Centauri -> as easily as stepping through a doorway.
-Oz