Wormholes As Time Machines

"Wormhole" painting by the artist Andrew Leipzig

The mysteries surrounding the possibility of the existence of wormholes leaves much to the imagination of many science fiction buffs as well as researchers who endlessly pursue answers to this timeless question.

The field of quantum physics has long since explored the phenomenon regarding wormholes and the possible connection to time travel.

In order to accurately understand the concept of wormholes or for that matter, time travel, an appreciation of space and time need to be addressed.

Space, according to physicists, is essentially our three-dimensional reality in terms of length, height, and depth. The size and structure of things that occupy space take up all three of the dimensions of physical presence. Theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler was the first scientist to refer to this spatial structure as a wormhole. Both Wheeler and fellow scientist Robert Fuller described wormholes as unstable compact areas containing anti-matter. While the theoretical speculation of the existence and description of wormholes was fairly agreed upon by most in the scientific community, the notion that a wormhole could actually be traversable was left with skepticism.

The first in the scientific community to bring to light the possibility of a traversable wormhole was Kip Thorne and Mike Morris in 1988. Both hypothesized that the wormhole may be held open by exotic matter, which would allow for gaining entrance inside the wormhole.

Albert Einstein introduced the scientific world to his Theory of Relativity which states that time is relative in nature to the individual entity that is tracking and measuring it. The speed of light indicated that time is not static but dependent upon motion. In terms of space-time, wormholes were explained under the scientific theory known as the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. This theory basically describes the wormhole as a pathway into another time and dimension.

The wormhole can be described as a connection of two very distant points that bring together time and space.

Einstein’s research and study was based on the understanding that atomic mass changes as an object moves through different fields of gravity. In theory, gravity actually is thought to warp or bend space and time. This apparent bending is the basic construct of the wormhole.

While Albert Einstein was a main contributor to wormhole and time travel theory, other scientists and researchers had a hand in developing theories as well. Referring to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Nathan Rosen collaborated for many years with Einstein and subsequently helped him with the theory of black holes and time travel.

Through quantum mechanics, which dictates the principles of matter and its behavior, the wormhole acts as a vacuum, due to the anti-matter that is the essence of the wormhole. This vacuum mechanism thus pulls matter through it at an accelerated speed. The wormhole can be described in a sense as a shortcut to distant points in the universe.

The notion of time travel, in respect to the wormhole concept, seems to be quite possible.

While distant galaxies and other dimensions of existence physically may be light years away, being transported through a wormhole speeds up the travel process faster than the speed of light. While the speed of the actual wormhole in time travel may seem to be far fetched, many scientists agree that the likelihood of such travel is not only possible, but quite probable (that’s cool, isn’t it?!).

An interesting facet of wormholes and time travel is that of phantom energy.

Phantom energy can be described as the driving force behind the wormhole. Essentially hypothetical, phantom energy is thought to be continually pushing the expansion of the universe. The strength of such energy is most likely the force that opens the “gate” to the wormhole.

Proving the existence of a wormhole and time travel takes a very scientific outlook and an open mind.

Wormhole: A Tool to Travel through Time?

Many scientists claim that the presence of wormholes in the universe is not mere speculation, but that of fact.

In keeping with the advances of technology and quantum physics, things such as wormholes and time travel may, at some point in the future, be accessed and proven as scientific facts.

Science simply has to wait for conventional wisdom and physics to catch up with the overwhelming number of possibilities out there.

Science-enemies and skeptics beware: wormholes and time travel may very well become commonplace sooner than you think!

Tags: albert einstein, anti-matter, einstein-rosen bridge, john archibald wheeler, phantom energy, robert fuller, spacetime, time and space, time travel, time travel theory, traversable wormholes, wormholes