Neglecting propulsive requirements for now....

If the goal is simply to shield a starship from a relativistic particle stream then experiments should be easy to set up. Particle accelerators exist, so we have a proton stream handy. Then we find ways to 'nullify' the stream over a certain length. Let's call the device that nullifies the stream our "black box" experiment. Protons flow into and out of the black box, but somehow they cease to exist, or lack substance, inside the black box. Upon exiting they reconstitute themselves and continue on as if nothing happened.

Hypotheses:

1. If protons are waves, then perhaps they can be diffracted to create null points. The starship would exist at one of those null points.

2. If protons are particles, then perhaps they can be nulled by a virtual antiparticle, existing only inside the black box. Energy might be channeled over the relatively short length, and allowed to reconstitute the particle as it exits the black box.

Ideas?