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https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/ar...
Article . 2021
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Tractor Beams, Pressor Beams and Stressor Beams in General Relativity

Authors: Jessica Santiago; Sebastian Schuster; Matt Visser;

Tractor Beams, Pressor Beams and Stressor Beams in General Relativity

Abstract

The metrics of general relativity generally fall into two categories: those which are solutions of the Einstein equations for a given source energy-momentum tensor and the “reverse engineered” metrics—metrics bespoke for a certain purpose. Their energy-momentum tensors are then calculated by inserting these into the Einstein equations. This latter approach has found frequent use when confronted with creative input from fiction, wormholes and warp drives being the most famous examples. In this paper, we again take inspiration from fiction and see what general relativity can tell us about the possibility of a gravitationally induced tractor beam. We base our construction on warp drives and show how versatile this ansatz alone proves to be. Not only can we easily find tractor beams (attracting objects), but repulsor/pressor beams are just as attainable, and a generalization to “stressor” beams is seen to present itself quite naturally. We show that all of these metrics would violate various energy conditions. This provides an opportunity to ruminate on the meaning of energy conditions as such and what we can learn about whether an arbitrarily advanced civilization might have access to such beams.

Related Organizations
Keywords

modified warp drives, Elementary particle physics, FOS: Physical sciences, QC793-793.5, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc), General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, tractor beams, general relativity, metric engineering, energy conditions, stressor beams, pressor beams

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    popularity
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    Top 10%
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
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    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
11
Top 10%
Average
Top 10%
Green
gold