(suspenseful music) - Our galaxy is over a hundred
thousand light years across. A distance so vast that it
defies ordinary understanding. Even humanities earliest
radio transmissions hurtling through space
at the speed of light would still only have washed over less than 1,000,000th of
the stellar population. The cosmic speed limit,
the speed of light, is so diminutive compared to a galaxy that any aspirations we might harbor for galactic exploration
or even just communication seem impossible, at least within human lifetimes. But humanity has long wondered, could there be a cheat code? Could there be a way to exceed
that cosmic speed limit? Could we go faster than light? FTL. There is no other technology that I so keenly wish
could be realized than FTL. Since childhood, I've looked up at the stars and dreamt of one day reaching them. Of exploring the ocean of space, the zoo of worlds, the menagerie of life. It almost seems like a cruel cosmic joke that the universe be
arranged in such a way that we are able to look
out and glimpse its wonders and yet are trapped here
by the speed of light. Fated to any other peer through the bars of our cosmic prison and dream. And so it's no surprise that human ingenuity
and aspiration has raged against Einstein's cosmic speed limit. After all, we've never been so good
at doing what we are told. To be clear though, we currently have no way of building or even conceiving of
a practical FTO system be it for travel or
just for communication. But there are threads
that physicists pull out that it is hoped one day might bear fruit. For example, we know that Einstein speed
limit only truly applies to travel through space, but that space itself
has no such constraint. For this reason, there are parts of the
universe receding away from us faster in the speed of light as the fabric of the cosmos itself expands in all directions. Could we one day learn
to manipulate space then and somehow use this
travel faster than light? The hypothetical Alcubierre drive is perhaps the most famous
example of this concept. Inspired by Star Trek's, warp drive, Miguel Alcubierre,
showed that there exists a solution within Einstein's
relativistic field equations that in principle, could allow FTL. By expanding space behind
itself and contracting it ahead, a bubble of space could
cruise between in the stars at arbitrarily fast speeds. The idea has certainly faced
many challenges though, such as requiring the
use of exotic matter, enormous energy requirements and even obliterating the destination through the buildup of radiation
gathered up by the bubble. Yet optimist might argue that none of these are
truly show stoppers, merely engineering challenges. A more pressing problem is
folding in quantum effects into the Alcubierre drive. In 2009, Finazzi showed that the warp drive bubble leads to exponentially
increasing Hawking radiation on the inside of it. This isn't just a hazard to their crew, the exponential buildup
destabilizes the bubble itself. It's important to remember that we don't have a good theory
of quantum gravity yet. And Alcubierre drive is
conceived in its absence just using general relativity alone. These kinds of quantum concerns don't just plague warp drives. Wormholes, another
hypothetical FTL system, has also been criticized
as being possibly unstable due to these quantum effects
ignored by general activity. Ultimately, we can't truly prove whether wormhole or Alcubierre
drives are allowed or not until we have solved quantum gravity or built a working example of one. The other problem with
assessing the feasibility of FTL is that there are multiple ideas out there such as tachyons, craznic optubes, quantum tunneling and entanglement. And each one of those has a diverse number of flavors proposed. For example, the Alcubierre metric has
been tweaked many times to reduce the energy
requirements in various ways. And of course, physicists still surely
will continue to conjure up new varieties in the future. As a result, it seems somewhat hopeless that we'll ever be able to completely exclude FTL as a possibility. On the one hand, our hearts might rejoice in that because it means that hope persists and the dream will always be alive. But on the other hand, our minds complain because after all this is science and we want definitive
clear objective answers, not eternal maybes that will
forever be unfalsifiable. So is there anything that
we can definitively say with existing knowledge? Well, it turns out, yes. Despite the fact that
we don't have a theory of quantum gravity, despite the fact that there
are countless variants and ideas about FTL systems, there is a definitive statement that we can make about all FTL systems. They all allow for causality
breaking time travel. When you hear that FDL
implies time travel, you might think about sci-fi portrayals of accelerating past the speed of light, but actually, the causality
breaking is far more subtle and occurs even with FTL
messaging systems alone. The explanation is a little challenging so we're gonna break it down
into small bite size steps and use diagrams to help us understand it. It's worth spending a
little bit of time on this because the consequences
are truly profound. Let's start by drawing a line representing one dimension of space along
the bottom of the screen and a line representing time
that's orthogonal to that. We now have a space time
or Minkowski diagram. To get acquainted with this setup, let's consider a distant star like Vega. This green square represents Vega at a certain point in space. In other words, its location but also at a certain point in time. Let's consider that Vega is stationary in this frame of reference so that as we move through time, it traces out this line. Note how it has the same
position at all times. This line is what we would
call the world line for Vega. And we don't have to limit
ourselves to just Vega, we can for example, put the Earth on the
spacetime diagram as well. Earth isn't moving much compared to Vega, so let's just assume it's
also stationary in this frame and thus has a parallel world line. Since we're ultimately interested in speed when it comes to FTL, let's now familiarize ourselves with what speed looks
like on this diagram. Because we are working in
the Earth's rest frame here, we don't feel ourselves moving, and thus in this frame, we simply move parallel to the time axis. So such world lines correspond
to no travel through space. In contrast, instantaneous travel, which is the most extreme FTL possible, would go from the Earth to Vega
with no time passing at all. Thus it would appear as this pink line parallel to the space axis. Between those two extremes, we have traveling at the speed of light, given this yellow line. In a Minkowski diagram like this, light always travels at 45
degree angles just like this. And technically it's called a "null line". Removing Vega for the moment, we first note that we are of course free to travel both forwards
and backwards through space. However, if the speed of light
is the cosmic speed limit, then any path below the
null lines highlighted here, are impossible to achieve. These would require FTL systems. On the other hand, lines above the null are
perfectly accessible, such as this stationary world
line that the Earth occupies. A slower than light or STL ship, would travel at some angle between that of a null and a
stationary world line. Okay, congratulations. You've mastered the basics
of space time diagrams but now let's go a little bit deeper. And note some relationships and
rules that we'll need later. Stripping down this diagram, consider the Earth sat
in space as shown here. And again, working in
the Earth's rest frame. From Earth's perspective, we don't feel like we're moving. That's relativity for you. So as time progresses, our location in space is always the same forming this world line. Crucially, that's the
same as the time axis. In other words, the world line defines the time axis as perceived by those following it. This is important because
we all know how relativity screws around with time. But here, there's a clear definition of where the perceived time axis lives. Now adding the null line back on, we can note the relationship
that the space axis is really just a flip of the
time axis around the null. So again, this provides a useful rule for orienting ourselves later when we'll have to deal with
more complicated scenarios. Okay, so we are finally ready to start imagining FTL systems on here. Let's put Vega back on the diagram as a distant destination. Consider that at some
distant location from Vega but one closer to the Earth, a supernova goes off. We'll call it Supernova X. The radiation from the supernova travels at the speed of light and thus follows a null line. Following this path, we can see the Earth sees
X first and then Vega, marked by these stars. Now imagine that Earth has
an FTL messaging system. As soon as Earth sees X, we decide to send a warning to Vega. Recall that FTL lines fall
below the null just like this. So we can see that Vega would learn of X before it actually sees it. Mission accomplished. Now, remember I said earlier, the whole problem with FTL
systems comes down to causality. So let's look the order of events here to see if everything makes sense. For this, we need to work through time
from the past to the future and track this sequence that occurs. We can do this by taking
a slice through time. A simultaneous moment and
slide it up the screen from bottom to top noting the
sequence of events we see. And remember, I'm in Earth's reference frame here, so the time slices here are
time as perceived by Earthlings, although, this is also
equivalent for Vegans too. So sliding at the page, we can see that the first event is that Supernova X occurs. Sliding further up, we can see that the next event is that Earth sees X and warns Vega. Going further. Third, we see that Vega receives
the warning and wants more. Finally, we see that Vega sees X. Looking at the order, this seems sensible. Cause proceeds effect. For example, Supernova X happens and then Earth sees X. Similarly, Earth warns Vega then Vega receives the warning. Okay. So in if you stopped the
video here and walked away, please don't, you would
erroneously conclude that FTL travel is fine. It doesn't break causality. Cause precedes effects, there's nothing to worry about. Well that's because in order to unveil the causality breaking power of FTL, we have to add another
ingredient into the mix. We have to add a slower than light, STL, relativistic ship here. Because doing so leads to
some disturbing consequences. Okay. So coming back to our diagram, we currently have no STL ships on here. Just Earth, Vega, X. And the FTL message is shown in pink. STL ships have to follow
world lines above the null, as shown here in red. Now remember our rules from before, the world line defines the time axis as perceived by those following it. So the time axis as perceived
by the crew of that ship, actually lives along that red line. It's not the same as the
Earth's time axis in white. The distortion of time is one of those mind bending consequences
of special relativity which our journey to the
end of the universe video explores in much more depth. Now remember rule number two, that space axis flips the
time axis above the null line. So as perceived by the crew, their space axis actually lives here. This is a remarkable
consequence of Einstein's rule, that the speed of light is
the same for all observers. Time and space bend to
accommodate it constancy in all frames of reference. Recall before, that we
tracked the sequence of events with sliding time slices. Lines of simultaneous moments. And record that these slices must be parallel to the space axis. So if we want to draw these time slices from the cruise perspective, they must be parallel to the red dash line sliding from the bottom right
of the screen to the top left. So coming back to the order of events, look, we already know what the Earthlings and the Vegans think happen, but what did the crew of the ship think? Using our sliding time slice, we can see that the first event in time, as perceived by the ship's crew, is that Vega receives the warning message from Earth about X. Going further, the second event is that
Supernova X happens. Third, we see the Earth sees X, and fourth and final, the Vegans see X. Looking at this order, we can immediately see
something very strange. Vega received the warning message about X before Earth even sent it. How is that possible? Cause transpired after the effect. Causality is broken. At this point you might wonder, maybe the problem isn't so much with FTL but rather with the theory
of relativity itself. What happens if we take
away those FTL messages? Because if causality violation
persists even without FTL, then we would know that it's
not FTL that's the problem, it's relativity. So let's repeat the experiment, but now I've remove that FTL message. Sliding our time slice along, we see that the first
event is now Supernova X. Next, the second event
is that Earth sees X. And finally, the third
event is that Vega sees X. So the sequence makes perfect sense now. No causality violation. Indeed we get the same order as that which the Earthlings
and Vegans would report. So the causality violation of before isn't a problem with relativity, it's a problem of FTL itself. Now you might say, "So what?" Does this disagreement
about the order of events truly matter? Isn't this just an academic question, one with no real world consequences? Well, I'm afraid not. Causality violation here is profound and it could actually allow the crew to potentially break the universe. To see this, let's modify the scenario so that the crew are no
longer mere observers but can actually intervene. Let's modify the FTL
world line just a little. Instead of being sent to Vega, it is intercepted by the
crew of the STL ship. So they would receive the message here. After receiving the message, they decide to send a reply back to Earth using an FTL transmitter that
they have on board their ship. For a bit of perverse fun, let's imagine that they
send a message back to Earth saying, "Turn off FTL transmitter." Okay. But where does this reply live
on this spacetime diagram? As I lead, it would follow a world line like this. Remember that our entire diagram is cast in Earth's frame of reference, and in this frame, the reply message seems to be traveling backwards through time. And now we see the problem. The reply is received back on Earth before the message was ever sent. So Earth receives a message saying, "Turn off their transmitter.", and so they don't then send
a message out subsequently. But if they never send out that message, then the ship will never receive it and thus, it will never reply. And thus Earth should not
turn off its transmitters, et cetera, et cetera. Like killing our grandfather
before we were born, we have set up now a grandfather paradox. Now you might be wondering, perhaps there's something wrong with the lines that I drew here. The diagram is after all getting pretty complicated at this point. To simplify things and
really nail this home, let's imagine that our FTL messages are not just faster than light, but they're instantaneous. Modifying, this means that the original Earth message must be parallel to the space axis because no time transpires. And similarly, the reply must now be parallel to the STL ship's space
axis, the red dash line. And we can see that
this simplified picture leads to exactly the same result all by one that's even more extreme. So the causality violation isn't some mere academic issue here, it opens the door to
time travel paradoxes. And remember that we didn't assume any particular FTL system here. This applies to them all. Whenever you have an FTL system, you also have a time travel machine. A machine capable of
creating paradoxes in time. In one of my personal favorites, we tackled time travel in a previous video along with the paradoxes that it elicits. Physicists despise problems
like the grandfather paradox because they undermine
the logical underpinnings of our universe and no good
solution exists to resolve them. It was the late Stephen Hawking who posed the most accepted way out. Put simply, time paradoxes
and not possible. Hawking's famous chronology
protection conjecture suggests that the laws
of nature are arranged in such a way that time
paradoxes simply cannot happen. Whenever you try, some physical effect will prevent you from achieving that goal. What might this look like
for an FTL system then. Such as for example, the Alcubierre drive that
we discussed earlier. How is it that Hawking is
going to somehow save us here? Well, it turns out that in that case, Hawking himself may have really done so in his previous work. Because recall that one of the problems with the Alcubierre drive is that they generate
enormous amounts of radiation inside the bubble. What kind of radiation? Well, it's Hawking radiation. That radiation in fact
builds up exponentially and rapidly destabilizes the bubble. Crucially, Hawking radiation
is a quantum effect and record that a unified
theory of quantum mechanics and gravity so far alludes us. So even though we don't truly understand how quantum effects and
gravity play together, Hawking's chronology protection conjecture essentially argues that it's
in that missing knowledge that the answer lies. That one day we will
discover a unified theory that neatly explains why
time travel paradoxes can never happen. And thus why FTL systems
too are not allowed. I promised you something
definitive about FTL and now we have it. Unfettered use of FTL
systems can break causality and cause paradoxes. Hawking predicts that such
violations are impossible, and so by that logic, does that mean that FTL
is in turn impossible? Not quite. One way that we might
be able to salvage FTL and satisfy Hawking, is to consider that, "Hey FTL is possible, it's just that there are
strict rules about its use." After all, when we removed the STL ship
from our spacetime diagram, there were no violations of causality or even more subtly just demanding that the ship never intervenes leads to no paradoxes. Perhaps FTL systems are possible but somehow specific
paradox causing activities like reply to that original FTL message, are forbidden. This sounds a little contrived, but it provides at least a
possible way out for FTL. The other option is just to reject Hawking's conjecture outright to suppose that paradoxes are allowed and deal with the enormously
challenging consequences of making sense of the
universe with their inclusion. As hard as a pill as it is to swallow, we have to accept that FTL systems have fundamental problems here that go beyond engineering or energetics. But remember, exploration of the galaxy is
not impossible without FTL, it just takes a lot longer. It would mean that our
efforts to explore space are not about personal gain
or egotistical pleasure but rather are performed in
service of the next generation and those beyond that. That as individuals, we would act selflessly and as a species in unified common goal. Perhaps then in the end, no FTL is a blessing in disguise, because it might compel
us to work together for the future for something
bigger than ourselves. So until next time, stay thoughtful and stay curious. (Upbeat music) Hey, thank you so much watching everybody. If you like our stuff, be sure to do all the YouTube stuff. Like, share, subscribe, comment. And if you really wanna help us out, you can click the link up above, where you can become a
donor to my research team at Columbia University. Just like our latest two donors, I wanna thank Dhruv
Bansal and Jonathan Sturm. Thank you so much for your support. So thanks again, everybody and have a cosmically
awesome day out there.
This was informative, but depressing 😭
Imagine a future where we travel faster than light, but in doing so create paradoxes that damage the fabric of the universe. We treat those paradoxes like we treat pollution today, we know it’s bad for our world but FTL travel is too ingrained in our way of life to stop easily.
Instead of the Earth heating up due to global warming, space time is slowly unraveling around us causing all kinds of strange occurrences like the basic laws of physics randomly not applying, or space itself growing or shrinking between the stars.
7 minute intro
Thanks. I hate the depression.
After looking at the youtube comments saying the Minkowski space diagram has to be wrong, this comment section is like being able to breathe again.
This explanation all hinges on the assumption that the space axis is a reflection of the time axis around the speed of light, but does nothing to explain why this is assumed. It was very interesting, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't 'explain' the underlying process other than shifting where the audience puts their faith in understanding.
Rad