104 "Well, so how does warp work?" (Warp and Subspace - Star Trek)
Description
This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.
104 "Well, so how does warp work?" (Warp and Subspace - Star Trek)
A powerful, asymmetric subspace field is established around the ship
by the warp nacelles. The field is composed of nested layers, each
pushing against the one beyond it. This drives the ship forward, at a
super-luminal velocity.
The nacelles are powered by a tuned plasma stream from the warp core
Matter/Antimatter Reactor (M/AMR). Injectors feed the plasma into warp
field coil segments at specific times, causing pulses to run the
length of the nacelle, front to back. This peristaltic flow causes the
push of the nested warp fields, and moves the ship forward.
The warp field wraps around the ship in a two-lobed bubble, with the
locus at Main Engineering (by design). The shape of the ship
determines the efficiency of the field, and this explains why the
Enterprise has such a sleek design.
Meanwhile, the subspace field reduces the inertial mass of the ship,
aiding in maneuvering. In fact, a small subspace field is kept around
the ship at Impulse speeds, so the Impulse drives have less mass to
push around. However, this is only a side effect and is NOT the
mechanism used to allow FTL travel.
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