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Warp Propulsion System The Warp Propulsion System (WPS) is comprised of four major components: the Matter/Antimatter Reactor Assembly (M/ARA); the Plasma Transfer Conduits (PTCs) and Electro-Plasma System (EPS); the warp nacelles; and the associated computer control systems. The M/ARA and PTCs provide plasma at the required energy levels and pulse frequencies to the warp nacelles, where the warp coils transform the energy in the plasma into a warp field. The strength and frequency of the individual pulses is determined by energy level and the frequency of the plasma that is used to produce the pulse. Impulse plasma cannot be used for warp propulsion because it lacks the critical pulse frequency imparted to the M/ARA plasma by the dilithium or keltrinium crystal assembly; quantite reactors utilize gravitic methods to achive the proper pulse frequencies. The warp coils are generally fired in sequential order from fore to aft (for forward motion). Alterations in firing order and in individual pulse strength are used to maneuver the ship while under warp drive. Each pulse from a warp coil generates a subspace field of a particular strength. As this field propagates, a number of things happen: (1) Field strength decreases in inverse proportion to the square of the propagation distance of the field from the coil; (2) Field propagation rate relative to the ship is proportional to the input energy level (the higher the level of energy input to the coil from the PTCs, the higher the propagation speed); (3) Each individual pulsed field interacts with the field from the preceding pulse, creating a pattern of mutual interference and reinforcement. The reinforcement increases the local subspace stress values, while interference decreases it. The ship moves towards the area of lower subspace stress ("downhill") at a rate dictated by the differential between the two (the higher the differential, the higher the velocity); (4) Subspace stress differential values would have to be the same for all ships traveling at a stated warp factor (given identical local subspace conditions); (5) Pulse timing would be dictated by the desired subspace stress values. These values are determined in turn by the pulsed field interaction (desired stress differential), the amplitude and cycle point of the plasma flowing to the warp coil from the PTC, and the critical distance from the ship's hull for the field interactions (which is fixed for the various modes of flight and desired maneuvers for each particular class of ships). More fields interacting would increase/decrease the localized stresses, increasing the stress differential and the velocity of the ship; (6) The ENERGY requirement per pulse remains constant (ignoring efficiency losses) as a function of coil mass and critical distance for a given subspace domain. POWER requirement increases as a function of pulse rate. The subspace pulse is (in simple terms) an expanding bubble. This bubble interacts with the bubbles from previous and following pulses to form a combined field whose geometry is shaped so as to provide a subspace field gradient. Again, note that there is not one, singular field. Rather, each pulse creates a separate field that, in interaction with previously propagated fields (from previous pulses) and post-propagated fields (from following pulses), creates the combined subspace field gradient (in essence, a field that is the summation of the constituent fields from the various pulses). Using a "rubber sheet" analogy akin to that used to explain gravitation effects,the field creates a slope that the ship runs down by building a "hill" behind the ship and a "valley" in front of it (if the coils fire fore to aft in the standard sequence). The relative "heights" of these high and low spots are also affected by local subspace background stress values--if an area of high stress is in front of the ship, this will reduce the effective combined subspace field gradient, requiring a higher gradient than expected to achieve the desired warp factor. The orientation of the slope is dependent upon combined subspace field geometry. The "steepness" of the slope is due to the value of the gradient. A dimensionally smaller ship has a lower critical field distance and the warp coils of a smaller ship are usually less massive. This indicates that a smaller ship usually has lower energy(and hence power) requirements for a stated warp factor than a larger ship. This is a consequence of ship dimensions rather than ship mass (except for the warp coil mass effects). This can be seen when we compare the power requirements for warp propulsion for the Galaxy and Defiant class ships (See Chart 1). A smaller ship is generally more energy efficient. One drawback of the smaller size, however, is that (in the instance of Defiant, for example) the use of fewer and smaller warp coils lowers the theoretical limit on subspace field stress values due to the requirement of higher pulse rates per individual coil and the subsequent more rapid approach to coil saturation and efficiency drop-off. Thus, a smaller ship has a lower theoretical top velocity. This is balanced somewhat by the lower energy requirements for pulse activation (slowing approach to saturation)-the balance between these two variables is dependent upon the specifics of the coil set mass and physical composition/geometry. In a general sense, having a larger number of coils is better, this equating to higher warp maneuverability (greater or more precise ability to manipulate field geometry) and a higher theoretical top speed. Theoretically, a four nacelle ship would be more maneuverable than a 2 nacelle ship (though the control system and software would be more complex) and would also have a higher theoretical top speed. Plasma from the M/ARA is used to energize the warp coils in a specific firing sequence and timing, running from fore to aft. The plasma is moved to the warp coils from the M/ARA via the PTCs. Plasma from the M/ARA during warp operations differs from impulse (fusion) plasma in that it possesses what is referred to as the Critical Warp Pulse Frequency (CWPF). The CWPF is a result of the partial suspension of the M/A reaction in the Dilithium matrix during warp power operations. The CWPF is determined by the warp factor desired. Higher warp factors require a higher CWPF. Each pulse travels via the PTCto the warp coils, where magnetic gates are sequenced to admit the plasma to each coil in succession. Each coil fires at a slightly different energy level (with each resultant pulsed field propagating at a speed proportional to the pulse energy level at the moment of plasma injection). In normal forward motion, the pulse energy level rises as the coils fire from fore to aft, the after fields propagating at a slightly higher speed than the immediately previous field. In reverse motion, the coils fire in reverse order, the pulse energy rising as the coils fire from aft to fore. The speed differential between the pulsed fields allows for field interaction (and the formation of the subspace differential nodes necessary for FTL flight). The pulsed nature of the combined fields (and node formation) means that the ship is moved via a method akin to peristalsis. Each combined field forms and collapses (and the subspace nodes and subspace field gradient with it) and the ship moves with each pulse. The cyclic nature of the pulsed fields means that the ship does not fully enter subspace. Instead, the ship is partially phased into one of a number of subspace domains (the particular domain being a function of field strength-the particular domain determining the local value of c and, hence, the pseudo FTL velocity that the ship attains (otherwise known as warp factor)). This partial phasing of the ship allows continued interaction of the ship with the normal space environment on a number of levels that would not be available if the ship were to fully enter the subspace domain. Alterations in course are effected by altering the location of the field differential nodes-thus altering the vector of the combined field gradient. This alteration is achieved by subtle differences in coil pulse timing/energy. Ship pitch, yaw and bank can be altered in this manner. Torpedo Warp Propulsion: Torpedo propulsion at warp velocities differs somewhat from normal ship propulsion in that the torpedo drive uses sustainer coils to maintain a parasitic warp field that is handed off from the ship to the torpedo during the launch process. Torpedo velocity can be up to 110% of ship velocity upon launch. The torpedo warp sustainer field is a static rather than pulsed field (due to torpedo power and control system limitations). This means that the field differential node loci and field stress gradient are fixed and that maneuverability is a function of differential constriction of the M/A reaction cell exhaust. Torpedoes will normally sustain the parasitic field until ½ of the onboard antimatter reactant load is exhausted (although this parameter may be changed via input from the tactical system by the ship's Tactical Officer). Torpedo field strength and combined field differential can also be adjusted by the Tactical Officer in order to maximize the torpedo's ability to penetrate into the outer layers of target defensive shields. It is theoretically possible (with correct selection of torpedo drive parameters) to match target shield parameters, allowing the torpedo to pass through the target's shields. |
