10.4 Some Notes on Non-Warp FTL Travel and Time Travel in Trek
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This article is from the Relativity and FTL Travel FAQ, by Jason W. Hinson jason@physicsguy.com with numerous contributions by others.
10.4 Some Notes on Non-Warp FTL Travel and Time Travel in Trek
Now, there are cases in Trek where FTL travel exists without
necessarily using subspace (and thus the subspace frame of reference would
not apply and would not prevent unsolvable paradoxes). For example, if the
wormhole in Deep Space Nine is assumed to be the same as a wormhole we
theorize about today, then it wouldn't need to deal with subspace to allow
FTL travel. (Now, what they call a wormhole doesn't necessarily have to be
what we call a wormhole, but for this illustration, let's assume it is). So,
if the wormholes in Trek aren't bounded by the subspace frame of reference,
we could imagine a situation whereby they could be used to cause unsolvable
paradoxes. This is true for any form of FTL travel in Trek which might not
use subspace. However, I propose that in cases where subspace isn't used (so
that its special frame of reference could not prevent unsolvable paradoxes)
then the first or second provision, "parallel universes" or "consistency
protection", would apply. In that way, we can allow for
non-warp/non-subspace-using FTL travel in Trek while still preventing
unsolvable paradoxes.
Further, consider time travel in Trek. Actual time travel couldn't be
accomplished by using subspace alone (the subspace frame along with the
fourth provision would prevent it). However, I propose again that such
travels in time should not be able to produce unsolvable paradoxes because
the "parallel universes" or "consistency protection" provisions would apply
(since subspace alone couldn't be in use to produce the time travel).
For example, consider the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode,
"Time's Arrow" (in which Data's severed head is found on 24th century Earth,
and Data eventually travels back in time to (unintentionally) leave his head
behind to be found). Now, after the head was found, one of the crew (let's
say Riker, just to use an example) could decide to try to produce an
unsolvable paradox. Riker may decide to do everything in his power so as to
keep Data from going back in time. He may even try to destroy Data and his
head to accomplish this task. Of course, Riker isn't the type of person to
do this, but what if he was? Well, in that case, he would be trying to
produce an unsolvable paradox, and the first or second provision would
prevent it. For the first provision, the head found in the 24th century
might have actually come from a parallel universe. For the second provision,
we could imagine various ways in which Riker might fail in his task of
trying to keep data from going back in time. Further, we could consider the
case in which he would succeed in producing an unsolvable paradox and we
could insist that such situations would destroy themselves or prevent
themselves from ever happening.
Such a situation is seen in a particular Voyager episode. In this
episode, members of the crew are caught in a "subspace fissure", and they
travel back in time. By the end of the episode, their trip back in time has
produced a self-inconsistent situation. That series of events then becomes
impossible and ceases to exist by the closing credits. This could be seen as
a result of having the "consistency protection provision" apply to a case
where the subspace frame of reference is bypassed via "subspace fissures".
So, even though we can be relatively sure that this was not the
intention of the writers, the situations shown do seem to comply with the
concepts we have developed.
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