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Memory Alpha
File:Time warp.jpg

Quark's Treasure travels through a time warp.

A time warp is a phenomenon which can allow temporal displacement. Usually only formed through great expenditures of energy, a time warp can be created both naturally and artificially (See: Slingshot effect).

In 2266, while spiraling down toward planet Psi 2000, the USS Enterprise traveled back in time three days, after accidentally creating a time warp through an experimental intermix formula which posited a relationship between time and antimatter. (TOS: "The Naked Time")

The disappearances of many starships in the Delta Triangle region of the galaxy were caused by naturally occurring time warp vortexes. The time warps were caused by a small parallel time continuum, known as Elysia, touching the prime universe in that region. The time barrier between the universes was disturbed sucking starships into the alternate universe through the vortexes. (TAS: "The Time Trap")

In 2372, a Ferengi shuttle carrying Quark, Rom, and Nog, traveled through a time warp when, in an attempt to shut down a sabotaged warp drive, Rom vented plasma from the warp core into the cargo hold, starting a cascade reaction in kemacite being stored there. He then modulated the reaction to create an inversion wave in the warp field, to force the ship into normal space. Although his plan succeeded, it also had the effect of transporting the shuttle back in time to the year 1947. The three Ferengi were able to return to their own time by harnessing the beta radiation from a nuclear explosion to trigger another cascade, causing a temporal surge in the subspace continuum, recreating the same kind of time warp. (DS9: "Little Green Men")

In "The Cage", Captain Pike orders the Enterprise to travel at "time warp, factor 7". Instead of traveling through time he simply refers to the normal warp factor. According to Star Trek Maps, the word "time" in that context is only a reference to the normal time dilation that occurs during all warp travel.

Methods of creating a time warp

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