Starmus La Palma
Miguel Alcubierre Moya, born on March 28, 1964, in Mexico City, is a renowned Mexican theoretical physicist best known for proposing the Alcubierre drive, a speculative concept for faster-than-light travel. Alcubierre’s academic journey began at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he earned a Licentiate degree in Physics in 1988 and a Master’s degree in Theoretical Physics in 1990. He then moved to Wales to pursue his Ph.D. at Cardiff University, focusing on numerical general relativity, and completed his doctorate in 1994.
After his Ph.D., Alcubierre worked at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany, where he developed new numerical techniques to describe black holes. In 2002, he returned to Mexico to join the Nuclear Sciences Institute at UNAM, where he continues to conduct research in numerical relativity. His work involves using computers to solve the complex equations of general relativity, contributing significantly to our understanding of black holes and gravitational waves.
Alcubierre’s most famous contribution, the Alcubierre drive, was published in 1994 in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. This theoretical model suggests a method of faster-than-light travel by expanding and contracting space-time around a spacecraft, creating a “warp bubble.” Although purely theoretical, this concept has captured the imagination of both scientists and science fiction enthusiasts.
