Tag Archives: Traversable Wormholes

Using Wormholes as a Time Machine

February 19, 2014Categories, Time Travel, Universe Mysterieslouis del monte, Traversable Wormholes, unraveling the universe's mysteries, Using Wormholes as a Time Machine, Wormholesadmin

Scientists have proposed using “wormholes” as a time machine. A wormhole is a theoretical entity in which space-time curvature connects two distant locations (or times). Although we do not have any concrete evidence that wormholes exist, we can infer their existence from Einstein’s general theory of relativity. However, we need more than a wormhole. We need a traversable wormhole. A traversable wormhole is exactly what the name implies. We can move through or send information through it.

If you would like to visualize what a wormhole does, imagine having a piece of paper whose two-dimensional surface represents four-dimensional space-time. Imagine folding the paper so that two points on the surface are connected. I understand that this is a highly simplified representation. In reality, we cannot visualize an actual wormhole. It might even exist in more than four dimensions.

How do we create a traversable wormhole? No one knows, but most scientists believe it would require enormous negative energy. This is interesting, since the Existence Equation Conjecture, discussed in previous posts, implies moving in time requires negative energy. A number of scientists believe the creation of negative energy is possible, based on the study of virtual particles and the Casimir effect.

Assuming we learn how to create a traversable wormhole, how would we use it to travel in time? The traversable wormhole theoretically connects two points in space-time, which implies we could use it to travel in time, as well as space. However, according to the theory of general relativity, it would not be possible to go back in time prior to the creation of the traversable wormhole. This is how physicists like Stephen Hawking explain why we do not see visitors from the future. The reason: the traversable wormhole does not exist yet.

Stephen Hawking did a fascinating time-traveler experiment in his popular TV series, “Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking.” He held a reception for time travelers from the future. He sent the invitations out after the reception had already occurred. His hope was that someone in the far-distant future would come across the invitation, and travel back in time to attend the reception. In the TV series, you see the reception room and Stephen Hawking, but no time travelers. He was disappointed.

However, we have four possible explanations why no time travelers attended:

1. The invitation did not survive into the far-distant future, a future whose science enabled time travel to the past.

2. Time travel into the past is not possible in the future, regardless of how far into the future the invitations survive.

3. The human race does not exist in the distant future, destroyed by our own hand, or a cosmic calamity.

4. Time travelers showed up at the party, but it was in another universe (an alternate reality suggested by the “Many-Worlds of Quantum Mechanics” theory). Perhaps in that reality, the TV series broadcasts a reception room filled with time travelers.

Although, we are discussing time travel, it is essential to note that wormholes imply connections between different points in space. This means that they may provide a faster-than-light connection between two planets, for example. Although faster-than-light travel is not possible, the wormhole may represent a shortcut. Travel inside the wormhole may remain below the speed of light, but be faster than the time it would take light to traverse the same two points outside the wormhole. Think of this simple picture.

You are on one side of the mountain. If you want to travel to the other side of the mountain by traversing its circumference, the journey will take longer than using a tunnel that connects to the other side of the mountain. The speed you travel is the same, but the tunnel allows a shortcut, and it appears that you traveled faster.

Will we ever be able to create traversable wormholes? Theoretically, it appears possible. Experiments are being conducted, as I write, using the Large Hadron Collider to create small wormholes, small black holes, and dark matter. The next decade holds considerable promise to address these questions.

Source: Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries (2013), Louis A. Del Monte

Image: iStockPhoto (licensed)

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How Negative Energy and Time Travel to the Past Are Connected

February 12, 2014Categories, Time TravelFaster-Than-Light Time Travel to the Past, how to time travel, louis del monte, negative energy, time travel to the past, Traversable Wormholes, wormhole time traveladmin

Today’s science knows precious little about negative energy. The best example we have of creating negative energy in the laboratory is the Casimir effect, which we briefly discussed previously, but will now discuss in detail. Let us start by discussing the energy associated with a vacuum. Vacuums contain energy. One simple experiment to prove this is to take two electrically neutral metal plates and space them closely together in a vacuum. They will be attracted to each other (i.e., the Casimir effect). At approximately 10 nm (i.e., 1/100,000 meters) separation, the plates experience an attraction force of about one atmosphere (i.e., typically, the pressure we feel at sea level on Earth). What is causing this force?

The energy in a vacuum is termed “vacuum energy.” Surprisingly, it appears to obey the laws of quantum mechanics. For example, the energy will statistically vary within the vacuum. When the vacuum energy statistically concentrates, it gives rise to virtual particles, which is termed a “quantum fluctuation.” When the metal plates are spaced closely, relatively few virtual particles can form between the plates. A much larger population of virtual particles can form around the plates. This larger population of particles exerts a force on the outside of the plates. This force is the Casimir-Polder force, and it pushes the plates together. However, another strange physical phenomenon is also occurring between the closely spaced plates. In quantum mechanics, every particle has a “zero-point energy.” Even a vacuum is said to have a zero-point energy. The zero-point energy, or the “ground state,” is the lowest energy level that a particle or a vacuum may have. By reducing the space between the plates, some physicists believe we are reducing the normal zero point energy of the vacuum between the plates. When this occurs, those physicists argue the vacuum energy between the plates is negative energy (i.e., below the zero-point energy).

The scientific community is not in complete consensus regarding the properties or even the existence of negative energy. Physicists are able to mathematically model negative energy and use those models to make predictions regarding the theoretical behavior of negative energy. While the mathematical models do not prove the existence of negative energy, it is instructive to consider their predictions, and their implications to time travel. Here are the salient features of negative energy based on the mathematical modeling:

• Negative energy implies the existence of negative mass. This, of course, begs a question. What is negative mass? Negative mass is a hypothetical concept in theoretical physics. Anglo-Austrian mathematician and cosmologist Hermann Bondi suggested its existence in 1957. If it exists, it is the negative counterpart of normal (i.e., positive) mass and exhibits unusual properties. For example, normal masses exhibit attractive forces, known as gravitational attraction. Negative masses would exhibit repulsive forces. However, be careful not to equate negative mass with antimatter. The vast majority of the scientific community holds that antimatter is still positive mass. Based on this consensus, they predict antimatter would exhibit the same properties as positive mass. For example, two antimatter particles would exert an attractive force on each other, not a repulsive force. The implications of negative mass on time travel are ambiguous, since the existence of negative mass itself is ambiguous.

• Several in the scientific community suggest that a negative energy vacuum would allow light to travel faster than a normal positive energy vacuum. If this theory proves to be correct, it could have major implications for time travel. For example, there is speculation that this property may allow people to travel faster than the speed of light in a negative-energy vacuum bubble. Previously, we have discussed that as a mass approaches the speed of light, time dilates (i.e., time slows down for the mass). If the mass exceeds the speed of light, the implication is that it can travel into the past. We will discuss this further in the next chapter.

• Stephen Hawking and other physicists suggest that negative energy is required to stabilize a “traversable wormhole,” an entity that would allow a person, object, or information to travel between two points in time or space. Wormholes are a hypothetical shortcut between two points in time or two points in space. There are solutions to Einstein’s general equations of relativity suggesting the theoretical existence of wormholes. However, we have no observational evidence that they exist in reality.

Until we can find a way to produce negative energy and apply it experimentally to determine its effect on time, we can only speculate.

Source: How to Time Travel (2013), Louis A. Del Monte

Traversable Wormholes – Time Travel to the Past May Be Possible!

November 7, 2013Categories, Time Travelhow to time travel, louis del monte, time travel, time travel to the past, Traversable Wormholes, Wormholesadmin

Traversable wormholes may enable time travel to the past. This post is based on material from my new book, How to Time Travel.

Let us begin our discussion by understanding the scientific meaning of a “wormhole.” There are valid solutions to Einstein’s equations of general relativity that suggest it is possible to have a “shortcut” through spacetime. To picture this, consider a piece of paper with a dot at opposite corners. In Euclidean geometry, normally taught in high school, we learn that the shortest distance between the two points is a straight line. However, valid solutions to Einstein’s general relativity equations suggest that the two points on the paper are connectable by an even shorter path, a wormhole. To visualize this, simply fold the opposite corners of the paper with the dots, such that the dots touch. You have created a representation of a wormhole. You have manipulated the space between the dots by folding the paper to allow them to touch.

Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that wormholes exist in reality. However, the strong theoretical foundation suggesting wormholes (i.e., valid solutions to Einstein’s equations of general relativity) makes their potential existence impossible to ignore.

The first type of wormhole solution to Einstein’s equations of general relativity was the Schwarzschild wormhole, developed by German physicist Karl Schwarzschild (1873–1916). Unfortunately, although the Schwarzschild mathematical solution was valid, it resulted in an unstable black hole. The unstable nature of the Schwarzschild wormhole suggested it would collapse on itself. It also suggested that the wormhole would only allow passage in one direction. This brought to light an important new concept. Faced with the unstable nature of Schwarzschild wormholes, American theoretical physicist Kip Thorne and his graduate student Mike Morris demonstrated a general relativity “traversable wormhole” in a 1988 paper. In this mathematical context, a traversable wormhole would be both stable and allow information, objects, and even humans to pass through in either direction and remain stable (i.e., would not collapse on itself). As is often the case in science, one discovery leads to another. Numerous other wormhole solutions to the equations of general relativity began to surface, including one in 1989 by mathematician Matt Visser that did not require negative energy to stabilize it.

As discussed above, traversable wormholes may require negative energy to sustain them. Several prominent physicists, including Kip Thorne and British theoretical physicist/cosmologist Stephen Hawking, believe the Casimir effect proves negative energy densities are possible in nature. Currently, physicists are using the Casimir effect in an effort to create negative energy. Obviously, if successful, the amounts of negative energy will likely be small. Because of the amount of negative energy that may result, I suspect the first wormholes developed will be at the quantum level (i.e., the level of atoms and subatomic particles).

We have merely scratched the surface regarding the science of wormholes, but we did accomplish one important objective. We have described how a traversable wormhole would allow spacetime travel via shortcuts in spacetime. This means we could connect two points in time or two points in space via a traversable wormhole. However, there is a hitch regarding time travel to the past. According to the theory of relativity, we cannot go back to a time before the wormhole existed. This means that if we discover how to make a traversable wormhole today, a year from now we can go back to today.

You may wonder why a wormhole constructed today would not allow us to go back to yesterday. To understand this conundrum, we need to understand just how a wormhole works as a time machine. Here is one scenario. Imagine you are able to accelerate one end of a wormhole to a significant fraction of the speed of light. Perhaps you could use a high-energy ring laser (i.e., a laser than rotates in a circle). As you twist the space, you create the “mouth” of the wormhole, something like a tunnel. After you enter the mouth of the wormhole, you are now somewhere in the wormhole’s “throat.” A “tunnel” is a good analogy to what is occurring. Now imagine you are able to take the other entrance of the tunnel, which is at rest and called the “fixed end,” and bring it back close to the origin. Time dilation causes the mouth to age less than the fixed end. A clock at the mouth of the wormhole, where spacetime accelerates near the speed of light, will move slower than a clock at the fixed end.

Given the above understanding of how a wormhole acts as a time machine, let us address why it is only possible to go back to the time of the wormhole’s construction. Imagine you have two synchronized clocks. If you place one clock at the mouth, and you place the other clock at the fixed end, they will initially read exactly the same time, for example, the year 2013. However, the clock at the mouth, influenced by the twisted space, is going to experience time dilation, and therefore move slower than the clock at the fixed end. Let us consider the case where the clock at mouth of the wormhole moves, based on the rate of twisting spacetime, one thousand times slower than the clock at the fixed end. In one hundred years, the clock at the fixed end, which experiences no time dilation, will read 2113. The clock at the mouth will still read 2013; only one tenth of one year will have passed due to time dilation at the mouth of the wormhole. From the fixed end, where no time dilation is occurring (i.e., the clock reads 2113), you can walk back to the mouth of the wormhole, where the clock still reads 2013. You will have walked one hundred years into the past. Notice, though, you cannot go back beyond the time of the traversable wormhole’s construction.

This post is based on material from my new book, How to Time Travel. Click How to Time Travel to browse the book free on Amazon.