Wormholes are a hypothetical object in space, through which one can travel not only in space, but also in time.
The idea of a wormhole, at the moment, is the only hope for humanity to travel very long distances in a reasonable time.
With this article, I start the heading "Sci-fi Concepts That May Be True". In it we will analyze interesting hypotheses. Scientists create a lot of hypotheses based on scientific foundations. These are various conclusions, consequences, games of the mind, which are based on already accumulated knowledge.
And some of them - if they turn out to be true - can radically change our understanding of the world. And our life in general.
Wormholes can connect distant objects in the universe
Instant travel between two distant objects in the Universe - is this possible?
Wormhole - These tunnels through space have featured in many science fiction films and books. After all, hypothetically, through them you can make interstellar travel!
The wormhole gained wide popularity outside the scientific community after the movie "Star Trek".
Long before the cinema, this phenomenon was known in physics under the term "wormhole". Wormholes are consistent with general relativity. Traveling through a wormhole is possible under certain conditions, which are set by gravity.
For a visual explanation of what a wormhole is, an example is usually used.
We take a sheet and put two points on it at its different ends. The question is - which trajectory will be the shortest?
Obviously straight. Yes! But only if we live in the so-called Euclidean space. The same one where parallel lines do not intersect.
But space can change near objects with giant gravity. Therefore, another way may be simpler - fold the sheet in half and just pierce two points with a pencil. This will be the same wormhole.
The author of the name - astrophysicist John Wheeler - gave his students the example of an apple and an ant. If the apple is eaten through by the worm, then the ant's journey will be much faster than going around the surface. It was this analogy that gave rise to the term "wormhole".
Points with very high gravity, such as massive black holes, can be directly connected to each other. They seem to constrict space-time. And the movement becomes instantaneous.
In theory, you can travel through them in time. To do this, one of the entrances to the wormhole must move relative to the other at a near-light speed.
If you build a car that can accelerate this entrance, you can travel in time.
However, it will not be possible to return to the times of, say, Ivan the Terrible. Maximum - at the time when the power plant was built.
For wormholes to be stable, they must be made of so-called exotic matter. It is a substance based on other particles. For example, instead of electrons, there can be muons (particles with the same charge, but much larger). Exotic matter can have unusual properties - for example, gravity does not attract, but repels.
So far, unfortunately, there are no reliable facts of the existence of wormholes. Otherwise, there would have been a wormhole in every taxpayer's apartment for a long time. (c) astrophysicist Vladimir Lipunov.
However, such objects may well exist in the Universe. Think of black holes, the existence of which was also predicted only on paper. However, enough practical evidence has now been found that has transferred black holes from hypothetical to real objects.
It is possible that our Universe is permeated with such wormholes. It will be possible to determine them already in the near future, with the help of new generation gravitational wave detectors.
Of course, sooner or later we will learn how to build starships for interstellar travel. But such flights will last tens and hundreds of years. By the time of landing, generations of astronauts have already changed.
And wormholes would help dramatically speed up our exploration of space.
You must be logged in to post a comment.