MadSci Network: Astronomy
Query:

Re: Wormholes

Date: Tue Sep 1 17:04:49 1998
Posted By: Jay H. Hartley, Post-doctoral physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Area of science: Astronomy
ID: 903387412.As
Message:

Mykel,

The word on wormholes is that we have yet to prove that they can't exist, but even in theory they are very difficult objects to generate. Far from having actually observed one, theorists are still unsure if our theories even truly predict them.

Mathematically, Einstein's theory of general relativity will allow spacetime to be warped into a wormhole shape, forming a path between two regions of space that might otherwise be very far apart; however, nobody has been able to come up with a physical mechanism that could generate a "real" wormhole. For a long time, it has been accepted that a stable, constant wormhole would require so-called "exotic matter," matter that actually has a repulsive gravitational force rather than the well-known attractive variety. Quantum mechanics predicts that such matter can exist for infinitesimally short periods of time in miniscule quantities, but it's not clear that it would be enough to help form a wormhole.

Theorists have therefore tried to generate dynamic wormholes that change with time, but a recent study published in Physical Review Letters has shown than all wormholes - dynamic and static - require exotic matter to form. You should check out a layman's discussion of the paper at the Physical Review Focus Web page.

So, in summary: NO, we haven't proven wormholes exist. In fact, it's looking more and more like we don't even expect them to exist. Now the focus of the research is looking for mechanisms to generate "exotic matter."

Jay


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