This page and the pages created from here will be devoted to the explanations { both canon & noncanon } of the Star Trek Systems of FTL propulsion of the Magnetic Super Impeller Systems none commonly as Warp Drive. Sources and information are strictly from my personal library of Trek manuals/books and my own perspective.
WARP ELEMENTS:
Power source
Hypermagnetic compression system
Subspace/Hyperspace continuim
Power Source
Borg: All Borg Vessels utilize a Quantum barrier assembly as a means of power generation. According to theory, the borg have developed a means of transmitting power from & deriving power from the range of the space/time continuim below subspace.
Federation: All standard federation vessels utilize a Matter/Antimatter annihalation Reactor Assembly. This system is most efficient with a dilithium derivitate focus for the matter/anitmatter plasma streams. A reactor can be run without these crystals but only for minimal warp speed factors. ( TOS anyhow )
Dilithium:
Is the material utilized to focus the interaction of the plasma streams to allow the mutual destruction of the antithesis particle streams in such a fashion as to create a channelled, controlled stream of total energy. Dilithium exists as a mulitdimensional crystal. It is preported to have a fourth dimensional arm that allows interaction into the realm of the space time continuim of normal space and maintain it's intergrity in the foruth dimensional arm via time loop feedback & time energy displacements along the same vector of the space time continuim. The energy that is fed into a crystal is dispersed along all four dimensional arms of the crystal, and due to the nature of the crystal and it's time displacement of energy - the energy is fed back into the 'normal space' arms of the crystal as a multipaction factor of four times the energy that came into the crystal. Ergo: One unit of power in that goes into all four dimensions and feedbacks into normal space as 4 units of power going out.
Trilithium :
Naturally Occuring: { from a TOS Novel } Is a composite element of four complete dilithium molocules in a serial crystal form. This allows the interaction of the energy displacement of the dilithium molocules to occur across all the fourth Dimensional arms but it acts as a ' eletrical transformer'{ as would a transformer act with AC power} in as much as the energy in a state of a serial feedback loop that compounds the energy by a mulitplaction factor of 4 per molocule. So the energy is fed back along the serial crystal as 16 units coming out for every one that goes into the crystal.
Synthesized crystal: { Speculation } Is a composite element of at least two and up to six molocules of serial dlithium; leading to a reaction as stated above, the crystal is unstable unless energy is continuously fed in the crystal to maintain the integrity of the mulitple facets. Thus one goes in and four comes out. Because the crystal will need more energy to stabilize you will have to pump more power back into the reaction to stabilize the crystal, which it will obligingly pump right back to you as mulitples of energy that were pumped into it ad infinitum. The crystal will never stabilize, but you'll get a lot of power.
Hypermagnetic Compression system:
All type of super imepeller systems work along the same prinicple, just different means of actualization. The form of super impeller propulsion is a field generator that 'gathers' or 'collects' the space time continuim and compresses it along a series of compression coils that will force the continuim fields to pull-push the generator along the length of the path of the fields.
This Section will deal with the various types of Warp Styles:
Quantum Slip
Warp engine
Warp coil
Transwarp
Cytherian Drive
Transwarp
Is a type of propulsion that is based upon tunnel effects of a semi-collapsed warp field. This appears to be done by activating a field that is an unstable warp field. that will create a wormhole whereby the vessel will be travelling at speeds that in 'normal space' are unatainable. As the physical stress and lack of manuverability preculde any actions or course correction while a transwarp drive is functioning
Quantum Slip :
Appears to be a derrivative of the Transwarp Conduit propulsion system. But it differs in as much as the vessel can initiate course correction & do battle. The vessel also requires more energy from it's core becuase the SIF & main deflector system must be utilized in syncronous utilizations. The main deflector creates a warp type field while the nacelles are used to push the vessel trough the very fabric of the Space time continuim without the folded or compressed fields of the standard federation warp drive.
Warp engine
This is the original style of warp propulsion that was TOS standard. A warp drive functions by grasping the very fabric of space itself: the Space/time Continuim and manilpulating the StC so as to precipitate motion. The StC is very elastic in its basic nature, this can be seen as gravity wells around dense objects- the denser the object the greater the compression of the StC until it reaches total collapse; as in a black hole. The methodology of a warp engine is that it creates a field of compressed StC that allows the vessel to change the amount of the StC it is manipulating and the degree that it is compressing it. By changing the 'pull' from a given direction, the field shape and density will change as will the direction of the vessel. By further compressing the field the vessel will draw more of the StC into the warp drive system and increase the speed of the vessel as it appears from the standpoint of normal space.
Warp coil
This is the style of warp propulsion the was TNG standard. The warp coil functions at the field level in the same fashion as the warp engine, the major difference is the form of the compression. By utlizing a pre-shaped and dynamically configured coil assembly; you can create a warp field with 69.23% more compression than a standard warp engine using the same amount of power. So you get even greater speeds and possibly greater field density so as to allow velocities that are approaching infinitive-hence the warp 10 barrier
Cytherian Drive
The cytherian drive system appears to be a method of propulsion based on folding the StC so as a vessel entering the event horizon of this field will be drawn into the folded area and come out at the other side of the field. [ kinda like a transwarp tunnel but instead of travelling through a compressed field tunnel, you fold the StC so that the entry point is where you are the and the exit point is where you want to be.] The visable distortions and the nature of the folded StC would preclude that the vessel is simutaneously at all points in the folded tunnel at once. opening a can of worms that I cannot even begin to touch. NOTE: given the nature of this type of propulsion, no combat or manuvering can occur with this method