What is a Wormhole?

The idea of a wormhole was first proposed by the great Albert Einstein in 1935 along with Nathan Rosen, his then colleague. The duo realised that within the general theory of relativity there was a possibility of there being ‘bridges’ that could connect two different points in space-time and therefore create a ‘shortcut’ from one point in time or space to another, reducing both distance and time taken to travel. As shown in the attached PDF document, while researchers are yet to conclusively prove the existence of wormholes there are valid solutions to equations of the general theory of relativity that do contain wormholes.



As described by Einstein and Rosen, wormholes would consist of two ‘mouths’ connected by a tunnel or ‘throat’. The mouths or openings would most likely be spheroidal in shape, while the tunnel or throat may be straight or may wind around, ultimately taking longer than a conventional as-the-crow-flies route. Within the general theory of relativity Einstein has predicted mathematically the existence of these wormholes, although to date none have ever been found. These wormholes could be observed due to the effect they would have on the passing light caused by the gravity of a negative mass. Some general relativity solutions allow for wormholes to exist where each mouth is actually a black hole, although naturally occurring black holes do not by themselves create wormholes.  

The reality of travelling through a wormhole even if we did happen to discover one is far more complicated than popular science fiction makes out. Firstly, the predicted wormholes as posited by Einstein and Rosen would be incredibly unstable and collapse after only a short period of time. Secondly, size would be a definite issue as primordial wormholes are predicted to be only about ten to the power of minus thirty-three centimetres – microscopic proportions. However, as the universe is expanding it creates the possibility that some wormholes may have stretched along with it. There is also evidence to suggest that wormholes containing ‘exotic’ matter, or matter with large negative pressure and negative energy density, could stay open for much longer. To this point exotic matter has only been observed as part of quantum field theory in the behaviour of certain vacuum states. Theoretically, if a wormhole was large enough and contained enough exotic matter it could be used to send information, objects or even human travellers not only though space but across multiple universes. Certain scientists have also conjectured that time travel would be possible if one mouth of a wormhole were manipulated in a specific manner. However, the possibility would be fraught with risk as there would still be a good chance that the addition of ‘regular matter’ such as a human into the stabilised wormhole could be enough to de-stabilise it once more.  

Even if we could solve all the theoretical issues surrounding the idea of wormholes and even if we did manage to discover one, the technology we have access to today is insufficient to either stabilise or enlarge a wormhole. However, scientists including Experimentor_4u remain fascinated by the concept and many hope that one day the technology will become possible.