Time travel and warp drives : a scientific guide to shortcuts through time and space

Everett, Allen. (Author). Roman, Thomas. (Added Author).

Summary: Presents the current understanding of the nature of time and space, and an approachable explanation of Einstein's theory of special relativity; then goes on to connect these to possible time travel along with the accompanying paradoxes involved.

Record details

ISBN: 022604548X
ISBN: 9780226045481
Physical Description: print
xi, 268 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Edition: Paperback ed.
Publisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-257) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

1. Introduction -- 2. Time, clocks, and reference frames -- 3. Lorentz transformations and special relativity -- 4. The light cone -- 5. Forward time travel and the twin "paradox" -- 6. "Forward, into the past" -- 7. The arrow of time -- 8. General relativity : curved space and warped time -- 9. Wormholes and warp bubbles : beating the light barrier and possible time machines -- 10. Banana peels and parallel worlds -- 11. "Don't be so negative" : exotic matter -- 12. "To boldly go..."? -- 13. Cylinders and strings -- 14. Epilogue -- appendix 1. Derivation of the Galilean velocity transformation -- appendix 2. Derivation of the Lorentz transformations -- appendix 3. Proof of the invariance of the spacetime interval -- appendix 4. Argument to show the orientation of the x', t' axes relative to the x, t axes -- appendix 5. Time dilation via light clocks -- appendix 6. Hawking's theorem -- appendix 7. Light pipe in the Mallett time machine