Research Hub/Papers/Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering
Peer-ReviewedOpen Access2010

Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering

Harold E. Puthoff

Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 63

Summary

Solo follow-up to `puthoff-little-ibison-2002-zpf` by the same lead author, developing the theoretical framework for spacetime metric engineering as a propulsion mechanism. Published in JBIS eight years after the foundational co-authored paper. This paper is directly cited in AAWSAP DIRD reports as part of the classified propulsion physics research program, making it one of the few papers in the catalog with a confirmed government program connection. Together with the 2002 paper, this forms the complete Puthoff metric engineering pair that undergirds the AAWSAP/TTSA advanced propulsion thread alongside `davis-2009-warp-metrics`.

Abstract

We review the theoretical basis for advanced space propulsion concepts grounded in the engineering of spacetime metric properties, with particular focus on the polarizable vacuum (PV) model of gravitation and the prospects for vacuum energy extraction. We develop the PV framework as an engineering-friendly alternative to standard general relativity, showing how local manipulation of the effective dielectric properties of the vacuum could in principle enable significant alteration of effective inertial and gravitational mass, light speed, and the geometry of local spacetime. We discuss how these modifications could be exploited for propulsion, analyze the scaling relationships between vacuum engineering parameters and achievable velocity effects, and compare the PV approach with Alcubierre-type warp metrics. We address the energy budget for such propulsion and argue that breakthrough propulsion physics may be achievable through advances in our understanding of quantum vacuum structure.

Citation

Harold E. Puthoff. (2010). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Vol. 63