Star Trek term
Acronym for: Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly
As the warp propulsion system is the heart of most Federation vessels, the
matter/antimatter reaction assembly (M/ARA) is the heart of the warp propulsion
system. The M/ARA is variously called the warp reactor, warp engine core
or main engine core. Energy produced within the core is shared
between its primary application, the propulsion of the starship,
and the raw power requirements of other major ship
systems. The M/ARA is the principal power-generating system because of the
10^6 times greater energy output of the matter/antimatter reaction over that
of standard fusion, as found in the impulse propulsion system.
The M/ARA consists of four subsystems:
Reactant injectors
Magnetic constriction segments
Matter/Antimatter Reaction Chamber (M/ARC)
Power transfer conduits
Source: Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual
Personal commentary:
While the whole concept behind warp field mechanics is still in its infancy
in the real world, there are still some very interesting studies done on it.
A well-known Trek anecdote is that Stephen Hawking, when he made a cameo
appearance on TNG (Descent:
Part 1), he was given a tour of the behind-the-scenes sets. When they brought
him into the Engineering Room of the Enterprise-D, they decided to give
him the full show. All the bells and whistles were running, as though the
place were truly functional as an M/ARA. Hawking just smiled knowingly at everyone,
nodded at the M/ARC (which is the center-piece of the Engineering Section
that we all see whenever they're looking at the "engines") and then
his vocoder announced, "We're working on that, you know." Reportedly,
the people present who heard him say this didn't know if they should laugh or
fear for his sanity.
Short description of what happens in the M/ARA: The Matter/Antimatter
Reaction Chamber is where all the real fun stuff happens with
warp engines. In a nutshell, matter and antimatter are injected into the
chamber by way of the Reactant Injectors, as electromagnetically compressed
streams, where they both collide on the focus of a dilithium crystal. As soon
as they meet at the crystal's tip, a finely-tuned beam of plasma energy is
ejected from the dilithium crystal (which acts as a sort of energy sponge when
the matter and antimatter react explosively on its tip). The tuned plasma is
then directed into the Power Transfer Conduits and from there to the Warp
Field Nacelles, where the energy from the M/ARA is effectively turned into
warp fields.