Travelling through a wormhole

Space exploration has always been captivating in science and astronomy. Imagine hopping into our spaceships and exploring the universe and its wonders to the fullest. Alas, the current fastest space probe we have, Parker Solar Probe, has a maximum speed of 692,000 km/h, as calculated by the mission team. On Earth, that would be like travelling from Washington D.C. to Tokyo in less than a minute, which sounds incredible, but it's nowhere near enough to explore the universe in a lifetime. So should we stop dreaming about space travel? Turns out there's still hope. We could try a warp drive, yes, the one from Star Trek. Suppose we manage to make one, which is easier said than done. Travelling at or a little faster than c, the speed of light, is still not enough. The black hole at the centre of milky way Sagittarius A is about 25000 light-years from the solar system. The cosmic speed limit seems feeble in front of such vast interstellar distances, so light is not so fast after all. So wormhole is our only option(for now), and it's interesting to study even if theoretical. This aspect is dynamic and, if explored, can lead to the opening of many avenues of possibility.

Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen gave the first description of a Wormhole, which came as one of the solutions to famous Einstein's field equations. These equations relate the shape and bending of space-time with the energy and mass 'embedded' in its fabric. This is known as Einstein Rosen Bridge. They stated such a bridge could act as a tunnel that connects two parts of space-time and provides a shortcut in the long travels throughout the universe. Many physicists also pondered upon this, and till now, the whole concept still seems sci-fi. Maybe one could see it in a MARVEL sequel but not in reality yet. Why would a wormhole form is another mystery, and we have a theory for it.

Wormholes are formed due to a distortion of space-time in a certain way, scientists predict they are created due to an object of high mass density moving through space-time. They travel at speeds comparable to that of light. Its effect on the space stays after it leaves, resulting in a wormhole formation. This also explains why they are so volatile: Space-time eventually returns to its original shape, resulting in the wormhole's collapse. The problem stated by Albert Einstein and Rosen was also that wormholes are unstable and tend to collapse in a short time. For all we know, there could be a supernova taking place. The science fiction where we encounter wormholes is quite fascinating but travelling through a wormhole is complicated, not just that we have yet to spot on. Well, the beauty of physics lies in plausible theories to substantially support the observation. According to certain physicists, a wormhole is like a tunnel that can connect to two dimensions through space. Sounds amusingly like a shortcut. It may also empty itself into another time if we go on thinking. It is a portal that forms a fabric weaving space and time. It can theoretically link two different locations in time because space and time are mixed up together. The wormhole can also connect the despicable dead-end 'the black hole 'and the white hole.

Wormholes are truly fascinating objects in the realm of Mathematics and Cosmology, emerging from something so mathematically abstract as field equations but hiding so many mysteries about the cosmos. Research by the physicist Jose Luis Blázquez-Salcedo and his team uncovered a possible way of travelling through a wormhole without the need for exotic matter(negative mass) to stabilize the bridge.

They believed in this very notion, i.e. in quoted words-

"...the beginning and the end of time. These are the same thing, as everybody knows who came into this universe via a wormhole."

Authors: Khanak Borad Katyani Gupta Editor: Aviral Srivastava