Consequences of Unusual Behaviour in Einstein's Field Equations for Advanced Propulsion Schemes

The notion of faster than light travel, passing through parallel universes, or even going back and forth in time is an interesting scientific issue. These activities are examined within Einstein's field equations from an engineering perspective to potentially create a suitable propulsion system. The evaluation revealed a set of circumstances that may lead to an anomalous gravitational distortion in what is normally referred to as the “vacuum field equation.” This can occur in a near flat space-time continuum without any electric, magnetic or torsion fields when the stressenergy tensor vanishes. The distortion, possibly created by a gravitational vortex, is driven purely by the gravitational tensor. The field equations also imply that unusual consequences may follow if one includes nonlinearities; off-diagonal terms in the gravitational or space-continuum tensors; more detailed boundary condition specifications or by creating systems that enjoy over-unity performance. Depending upon definition of the curvature tensor, this may lead to conditions for travel in a parallel universe, faster than light travel and past/future time travel. The problem is to include such conditions within a suitable propulsor design to explore unknowns within the cosmos.