Wormholes - Gates to the Stars?

In1935,AlbertEinsteinandNathanielRosenpublishedastudythatpresentedastrangenewmathema>calobject.Inform,itlookedliketwouniverseswithabridgeconnec>ngthem.EinsteinandRosenhopedthatthesebridgescouldrepresentpar>clesinEinstein’sgeneraltheoryofrela>vity,butlaterdevelopmentsinquantummechanicsshaGeredthatidea.Eventually,JohnArchibaldWheelergavethemtheiconicname‘wormhole,’anditstuck.Wheeler’sstudent,aLoganna>venamedKipThorne,wentontopublishalandmarkpaperwithMichaelMorrisexaminingwhethersuchabridgecouldbeusedforinterstellartravel.MorrisandThornebasedtheirpaperonresearchtheyhaddonefortheirfriendCarlSagan,whousedawormholeasameansofinterstellartravelinhis1985novelContact.Sincethen,thewormholehasbecomeastapleofsciencefic>on,mostnotablyfeaturinginthe2014filmInterstellar(Figure1)Awormholeconnectstwodifferentuniverses,ortwowidelyseparatedpartsofthesameuniverse.(Figure2)Bytravelingthroughawormhole,atravelercouldquicklyarriveatadistantpointinspacewithoutneedingtocrosstheinterveningdistance.Thiscouldgreatlyshorteninterstellartravel>mes.

Wormholes–GatestotheStars?HowanEinstein-RosenbridgecoulddestroyourSolarSystem

SamuelShreeve,UtahStateUniversity|JimWheeler,UtahStateUniversity

Unfortunately,thesimplewormholesdescribedbyEinsteinandRosen,some>mescalledSchwarzschildwormholes,causeseriousproblemsforanyfuturespaceexplorer.Thefirst,andmostglaring,isthattheyareunstable–theycollapsesofastthatevenanobjectmovingthespeedoflightcouldnotpassthrough.Thesecondprobleminvolvestheintense>dalforces.Forapersonenteringawormholefeet-first,thegravita>onalforceontheirfeetisstrongerthantheforceontheirhead.ThesameistrueonEarth,ofcourse,butthedifferenceissosmallastonotbeno>ced.Forawormhole,however,thefieldissostrongthatthedifferenceingravita>onalforceswouldripourtravelerinpieces.

Forourexperiment,letusfollowtheleadofInterstellar,andplaceourwormholenearSaturn.Luckilyforourwould-bespacetravelers,wecansolvetheproblemof>dalgravitybyjustincreasingthemassofourwormhole.Howmassivewouldthiswormholehavetobeforourintrepidexplorerstosurvive?Itturnsoutitmustbe10,000>mesthemassoftheSun.Itsradiuswouldbe53,000km,oralmostlargeenoughtoswallowSaturnwhole.Anditiscertainlyenoughtoriptherestoftheplanetsoutoftheirorbitsandintonewonesaroundthewormhole.TosavetheSolarSystem,wemustpushthewormholeabout60>mesfurtherawaythanNeptune.

Facedwithproblemslikethese,Morris,Thorne,andothershavedoneresearchonhowtomakeawormholeusefulforspacetravel.Theywereabletofindawaytofixtheproblemscausedbythegravita>onalfield,andtomakethewormholestable,butonlyifwecanfindmaGerthathasnega>veenergy.Althoughlaterresearchhasshownthatwemightbeabletogetawaywithverysmallamountsofthisexo>cmaGer,wehaven’tfoundawaytogetridofitsofar.However,recentstudiesofconformalgravity–aspecialwayofextendingGeneralRela>vity–hasshownthatwecangetridofexo>cmaGerinothersitua>onswhereitcropsup.Withfurtherresearch,itmayworkforwormholestoo.

ResearchconductedwithfundingfromaUSUCollegeofScienceMinigrant.

Figure1–TheblackholeGargantua,fromthefilmInterstellar.AnEinstein-Rosenbridgewouldlookverysimilartoablackhole.

Figure2–Anembeddingdiagramofawormhole

SamuelShreeveUtahStateUniversityPhysicssamuel.t.shreeve@gmail.com

WhatisaWormhole? Einstein-RosenBridges SolarSystem:Destroyed

MakingWormholesWork

ImageCredit:ParamountPictures

PhotobyAllenMcC(Crea8veCommonsA:ribu8onSharealike3.0)

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