Could wormholes be used for future space travel? A new study explains
A theory proposed in a new study says that wormholes, if they exist, might be more stable than previously suggested.
Wormhole corresponding to the maximal analytic extension of the Reissner Nordstrom metric.
(photo credit: VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
A new theory has attempted to explain whether wormholes, a
theoretical connection of two separate points in spacetime, can be used
as a viable means for space travel in the future.
But what are wormholes?
Theorized by physics giant Albert Einstein
and by American-Israeli physicist Nathan Rosen, who coined the term
"Einstein-Rosen bridge," a wormhole is a hypothetical short-cut that
could facilitate travel between two otherwise distant points in
spacetime. Although wormholes have never been observed, their possible
existence is compatible with Einstein's Theory of General Relativity but
there are counter theories that suggest they can't exist.
Before a new study by physicist Pascal Koiran, it was widely believed a
form of theoretical exotic matter would be needed to keep a wormhole
open, as it would disappear quickly after its creation without a force
to prevent it from closing.
Now, a study, published in the scientific journal arXiv in October, suggests that wormholes might be more stable than previously thought.
Koiran proposes to analyze wormholes using not the popular Schwartzchild metric commonly used to analyze black holes, but the Eddington-Finkelstein metric.
The
study found that by using the Eddington-Finkelstein metric, a particle
could be documented crossing the event horizon, the crossing point into
the wormhole, go through it and reach the other side in a finite amount
of time. That means the path of a particle passing through a wormhole
could be more easily traced using this metric.
If
particles can cross through a wormhole and reach the other side
unharmed, perhaps someday humans might be able to travel through a
wormhole and reach distant points in spacetime that are beyond reach
currently.
Deep Space 9 - Discovering a wormhole
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