Slipstream space (Earth-7149)

Slipstream space, colloquially known as slipspace, slipstream and Shaw-Fujikawa space, is a dimensional subdomain of alternate spacetime, which consists of eleven non-visible infinitesimal dimensions, which is used for faster-than-light travel. The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine is an apparel that allows spaceships to travel in slipspace.

History
Slipstream space refers to a set of eleven "nondimensions" which exist in a small bundle "above" the temporal and three spatial dimensions noticeable to living beings. Through the movemement of matter from the three spacial dimensions and one time dimension of normal space to the slipstream, an individual is able to change the laws of physics for that particular piece of matter. This allows faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects, such as a ship's occupants not "warping" on time with the superluminal speed.

In 2291, physicists Sir Tobias Shaw and Dr. Wallace Fujikawa were the first humans to create a device that allowed for the safe transition of matter in and out of slipstream space, naming it the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, which allowed humanity to start a colonial expansion beyond the Sol system known as the Domus Diaspora.

Mechanics
Slipspace is a tangle of intertwined non-spatial dimensions, which can be compared to a wadded piece of paper. Instead of taking the "flat sheet" used to represent gravity and crumbling it into a small ball, it creates extra dimensions and shorter spaces between points. The normal plane of existence is believed to have four dimensions, but slipspace possesses eleven. It is entwined with the physical universe in away that the phenomenon that happens in one planet happens in another, and with the capable technology, transitions are possible.

Described as non-Euclidean and non-Einsteinian, the slipstream possesses markedly different laws of physics than "normal" space. Due to its different laws of physics, times, masses, positions or velocities in slipspace are impossible to accurately measure based on the standards of normal space. Although they are often used in colloquial contexts, the conventional notions of acceleration, velocity, distance, and time are technically meaningless within slipspace. Even the name "slipspace" is technically a misnomer because the subdomain is non-spatial. Ordinary matter cannot exist in the raw slipstream without being torn apart; ships traveling in slipspace are shielded by carefully-tuned quantum fields which wrap them in envelopes of normal space. Any construction in slipspace itself would have to be composed of specialized forms of exotic matter.

Slipspace itself is invisible to the human eye, as there is nothing in the visible spectrum to see. To observers aboard spacecraft traveling through slipspace, this means that alternate domain appears pitch black. Slipspace-associated phenomena in normal space, such as the radiation from a slipspace transition, are most commonly luminous blue. In some cases (most prominently in teleportation) these effects may also appear yellow and orange.

Reconciliation
While faster-than-light travel is bound to generate chronological and causal paradoxes by nature, ships traveling through slipspace rely on a self-healing effect of space-time called reconciliation, more formally known as causal reconciliation or particle reconciliation, to eliminate any paradoxes that may otherwise occur. The severity of this effect, which scales in a nonlinear fashion, is determined by the amount of discrepancy in information transfer between locations, as well as strain on the local space-time brane, as opposed to the apparent length of the voyage alone. Mass, or size, is also a contributing factor, at least in the transport of abnormally large objects.

Because of modern-day humanity's inferior grasp of reconciliation technology, the time slipspace travel takes to normal-space observers varies substantially; one cannot depend on the same amount of time passing in slipstream space and normal space. With slipspace travel, there is generally a five- to ten-percent variance in travel times between stars. A fleet that transitions to slipstream space at the same time may or may not transition back to normal space at the same time. Furthermore, if ship 'A' and ship 'B' both were to enter slipstream space at the same time and exit at the same time, the crew on ship 'A' could have experienced a longer journey subjectively, and the crew of ship 'A' could be a week older than that of ship 'B' despite appearances in normal space. Though no human scientist is sure why travel time between stars is not constant, many theorize that there are "eddies" or "currents" within the slipstream. This temporal inconsistency has given military tacticians and strategists fits, hampering an uncounted number of coordinated attacks.

Drive operation
The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine generates a resonance field, which when coupled with the unusual physics of the slipstream, allows for dramatically shorter transit times between stars. Slipspace drives use particle accelerators to rip apart normal space-time by generating micro black holes. These holes are evaporated via Hawking radiation in nanoseconds. The real quantum mechanical marvel of the drive lies in how it manipulates these holes in space-time, squeezing vessels weighing thousands of tons into slipspace. The Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine itself provides no actual motive power outside slipspace, and ships equipped with such a device still require conventional engines for sublight travel.

Starships and their occupants are not directly exposed to the eleven-dimensional spacetime while moving through slipspace; instead, the ship is enveloped in a quantum field generated by the drive. The field acts as a medium between the ship and the higher dimensions, translating its presence as a normal-space object to the arcane physics of slipspace and enabling it to "squeeze through" the higher dimensions. This field requires an enormous amount of constant calculations to maintain, with the number of needed calculations increasing with the size of the ship. For example, the slipspace translations for a Phoenix-class colony ship require 4.3 quadrillion calculations of the quantum field per second. The vessel's mass is a noted consideration in the generation of this "buffer" as well as the energy expenditure of the drive in general.

Velocities
The mechanics of the slipspace drive and the way it manipulates the slipspace field have an effect on the time it takes for a ship to cross distances, with more sophisticated drive technology allowing for various methods of crossing distances more efficiently. The size of a ship's engines correlates with the velocity at which it traverses slipspace; ships with larger engines will move faster within the slipstream.

However fast it may appear, human faster-than-light travel is by no means instantaneous; "short" jumps routinely take up to two weeks to two months, and "long" jumps can last six months or more for the crew. Certain UNSC ships are known to be able to travel at a speed of 2.625 light years per day.

Further complicating matters is that transit times between different star systems are not consistent. While Epsilon Indi is only approximately 12 lightyears from Earth, and 83.3 lightyears from 23 Librae, Cristóbal, is described as the "closest" colony to Linna 349, at only a few weeks transit time for a freighter, as opposed to just over two months to the much closer Epsilon Eridani which lies only 14 lightyears from Epsilon Indi. These discrepancies are due to the fact the internal topology of slipstream space differs from that of normal space in certain areas, sometimes resulting in major inconsistencies in the distances traveled.

Communications
Slipspace has been used as the basis for all forms of faster-than-light human communications system, enabling communication across the vast distances of space in reasonable timescales.

Trivia

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