It's highly possible for large quantities of energy and matter to survive entering a black hole and come out on the other side, suggests a team of researchers from the Universities of Valencia and Lisbon.
Studying black holes can be tricky because laws of physics don't apply to them. It has been believed that when massive amounts of energy and matter become concentrated in an infinitely small space known as the gravitational singularity, they are destroyed, as space-time curves toward infinity. However, in a study published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, Gonzalo Olmo and colleagues beg to differ.
According to Olmo, black holes are great for testing out new concepts about gravity, acting like a theoretical laboratory. In this particular study, he applied geometric structures like a graphene layer or crystal, which are not usually used for describing black holes as they better match what occurs inside the space object.
In the same way that crystals feature imperfections within their microscopic structure, Olmo explained, a black hole's center can be considered a space-time anomaly calling for new elements to more precisely describe them. As such, the researchers exhausted all possible options, relying on facts observed in nature for guidance.
With the help of the new geometric elements, the researchers were able to come up with a way of describing wormholes where the center is a tiny spherical surface. According to the researchers, this surface is a sign that a wormhole exists within a black hole.
Olmo said their theory naturally resolves several problems in the interpretation of electrically charged black holes, adding that the existence of a "door" at the center of a black hole points to a way for space and time to continue.
The wormhole predicted by the study is smaller in size than an atom nucleus but it grows bigger as more energy is consumed and stored by a black hole. In theory, if a traveler enters a black hole, they would be "spaghettified," which allows entry into a wormhole. Once they exit the wormhole, however, they would return to their normal size.
The researchers acknowledge that it is unlikely for a star to survive a trip through a wormhole but the model they used propose that only a change in form would occur. Matter will not be lost but it will be expelled out to the other side, finding its way to another portion of the universe in the process.
Additionally, the black hole back doors the researchers are referring to will not require exotic sources of energy to create wormholes.
Aside from connecting two points in the universe through space-time doors, there is interest in wormholes in theoretical physics to help in explaining phenomena like quantum entanglement.
Photo: Hubble ESA | Flickr
