Wormhole

A wormhole visualized as a two-dimensional surface. Route (a) is the shortest path through normal space between points 1 and 2; route (b) is a shorter path through a wormhole.

A wormhole is a hypothetical structure which connects disparate points in spacetime. It may be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are based on a special solution of the Einstein field equations.[1] Specifically, they are a transcendental bijection of the spacetime continuum, an asymptotic projection of the Calabi–Yau manifold manifesting itself in anti-de Sitter space.[2]

Wormholes are consistent with the general theory of relativity, but whether they actually exist is unknown. Many scientists postulate that wormholes are merely projections of a fourth spatial dimension, analogous to how a two-dimensional (2D) being could experience only part of a three-dimensional (3D) object.[3] A well-known analogy of such constructs is provided by the Klein bottle, displaying a hole when rendered in three dimensions but not in four or higher dimensions.

In 1995, Matt Visser suggested there may be many wormholes in the universe if cosmic strings with negative mass were generated in the early universe.[4][5] Some physicists, such as Kip Thorne, have suggested how to make wormholes artificially.[6]

  1. ^ Overbye, Dennis (10 October 2022). "Black Holes May Hide a Mind-Bending Secret About Our Universe – Take gravity, add quantum mechanics, stir. What do you get? Just maybe, a holographic cosmos". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  2. ^ Shinkai, Hisa-aki; Torii, Takashi (2015-01-21). "Wormhole Dynamics". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 574: 012056. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/574/1/012056. ISSN 1742-6588.
  3. ^ Choi, Charles Q. (2013-12-03). "Spooky physics phenomenon may link universe's wormholes". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  4. ^ Cramer, John; Forward, Robert; Morris, Michael; Visser, Matt; Benford, Gregory; Landis, Geoffrey (1995). "Natural wormholes as gravitational lenses". Physical Review D. 51 (6): 3117–3120. arXiv:astro-ph/9409051. Bibcode:1995PhRvD..51.3117C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.51.3117. PMID 10018782. S2CID 42837620.
  5. ^ "Searching for a 'Subway to the Stars'" (Press release). Archived from the original on 2012-04-15.
  6. ^ Thorne, Kip S. (1994). Black holes and time warps : Einstein's outrageous legacy. New York. p. 493. ISBN 978-0393312768.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)