Section 5756 Instructor: Dr. Younes Ataiiyan Modern Physics Project, Spring 2011 May 10, 2011 Space-time • Time is considered the 4th dimension of our Universe (Our Universe has 3 dimensions of space and 1 of time) • Einstein said you can think of these 4 dimensions as fabric (ie fabric of space-time) What are Wormholes? • Hypothetical tunnel connecting two different regions in space- time • Traveling through a wormhole takes less time than traveling between the same starting and ending regions in normal space • In theory, the ends of wormhole could be intra-universe or inter- universe • Weight added to a piece of fabric will cause sag towards the center – Super massive black holes cause a tear in space- time and this tear is the wormhole – These two regions would meet and form a wormhole connection Shape • Defined as short cut through space and time • Has to fold the 2D concept of space and time to create a 3D situation • Becomes the bridge from one dimension to the other • Made up of: 2 mouths and a throat Properties • Highly unstable • Most likely would collapse instantly if the smallest amount of matter (ie single photon) attempted to pass through Wormholes:a connection • According to laws of Newton every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Since a black holes is an object that takes in energy that goes into where, there must be an object that ejects energy out of no where. • Wormholes connect whiteholes and blackholes. Video explanation of wormholes History of the wormhole • Einstein first proposed wormholes in 1935. He co-wrote a paper with Nathan Rosen in which they showed that general relativity allowed for what they called “bridges.” They theorized that there could be places where space/time is folded that allowed transfer of matter from one point to another in the universe, specifically in blackholes. History of the wormhole • Carl Sagan’s Novel Contact in 1985 prompted physicist Kip Thorne to develop a space transport system which led him to a never before seen solution to Einstein GTR equation describing large traversable wormholes. Types • Lorentzian wormholes (general relativity) – Short-cuts through space and time – Mainly studied by experts in Einstein gravity • Euclidean wormholes (particle physics) – Live in “imaginary time” – Intrinsically virtual quantum mechanical processes – Of interest mainly to the particle physicists (quantum field theorists) Do Wormholes Exist? • Theorists believed wormholes could exist for only an instant of time and anyone trying to pass through would run into a singularity – Singularity: marks a point where the curvature of space-time is infinite (it possesses zero volume and infinite density) • No observational evidence, but on theoretical level there are valid solutions to the equations of general relativity – General Theory of Relativity: According to Einstein, gravity is not a force but an effect of mass curving (warping) space and time (space- time) Time Travel? • As with any mode of faster-than-light travel, wormholes offer the possibility of time travel • The only material used to stabilize wormholes from pinching off is material having negative energy density and large negative pressure/tension that is larger in magnitude than the energy density, called “exotic matter” – “exotic matter” could prevent a wormhole from collapsing on itself – No classical matter can do this, but it is possible that quantum fluctuations in various fields might be able to Metrics • Theories of wormhole metrics describe the space-time geometry of a wormhole and serve as theoretical models for time travel • Traversable wormhole metric:
Communication Satellite Systems Technology: A Collection of Technical Papers Drawn Mainly from the AIAA Communications Satellite Systems Conference, May 2-4, 1966
Re-Entry and Vehicle Design: Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on Ballistic Missile and Space Technology, Held in Los Angeles, California, in August, 1960