What Are the Physical Properties of Human-Sized Worm Holes?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the theoretical properties of human-sized wormholes, particularly focusing on the nature of their edges and their interaction with spacetime. Participants explore concepts related to the dimensionality of wormholes and their physical characteristics, while also addressing misconceptions from popular science.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether the edge of a wormhole could be touched and if it would be solid or infinitely sharp, proposing a fourth-dimensional perspective.
  • Another participant asserts that wormholes do not have edges and blend into the surrounding spacetime, challenging the notion of higher-dimensional embeddings.
  • This second participant emphasizes that mathematical models of wormholes describe spacetime as a 4-dimensional continuum without higher-dimensional embedding.
  • It is suggested that a wormhole would appear as empty space to someone traveling through it, lacking solid or sharp properties.
  • Participants express interest in further reading, with one recommending the original paper by Morris & Thorne on wormholes.
  • Visualizations of wormholes are shared, along with a note on the theoretical requirement of negative energy for stabilization, which has not been detected in the universe.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit disagreement regarding the nature of wormholes, particularly about the existence of edges and the dimensionality involved. The discussion remains unresolved as differing viewpoints are presented without consensus.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the speculative nature of the discussion, particularly regarding the technological feasibility of creating human-sized wormholes and the assumptions about negative energy requirements.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those exploring theoretical physics, particularly in the context of wormholes, spacetime, and the intersection of science fiction with scientific theory.

Unbreakabletoon
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TL;DR
Worm Hole Theoretical question. Worm hole physical properties.
Hello Everyone in the forum:
I have a theoretical question about Worm Holes. So for the sake of this question let's just assume we have the technology and the power source to fire up a small human size worm hole. My question would be regarding the edge of the worm hole. Would you be able to touch the edge or would the worm hole be more like a fourth dimensional sphere? (since it is connecting space by folding it on a higher dimension). However, if you were able to actually touch the edge would it be solid or would it be infinitely sharp?
 
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Unbreakabletoon said:
My question would be regarding the edge of the worm hole.

The wormhole doesn't have an edge. It blends continuously into the surrounding spacetime.

Unbreakabletoon said:
Would you be able to touch the edge or would the worm hole be more like a fourth dimensional sphere?

Neither.

Unbreakabletoon said:
since it is connecting space by folding it on a higher dimension

This is a common pop science description, but it has nothing whatever to do with actual mathematical models of wormholes. In the actual mathematical models, spacetime is just a 4-dimensional continuum; it's not embedded in anything higher-dimensional. In spacetimes with wormholes, the continuum is multiply connected, but that can be described entirely in terms of properties within the continuum, without having to make use of any embedding in anything higher dimensional.

Unbreakabletoon said:
However, if you were able to actually touch the edge would it be solid or would it be infinitely sharp?

A wormhole would seem to someone traveling through it like empty space, which has neither of these properties.
 
Thank you. Can you recommend any books in the subject? :smile:
 
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Likes   Reactions: kent davidge
Unbreakabletoon said:
Can you recommend any books in the subject?

Not books, but the original wormhole paper by Morris & Thorne is worth reading:

http://www.cmp.caltech.edu/refael/league/thorne-morris.pdf
 
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: Klystron
Thank you very much for your time. I had the feeling most Hollywood movies had this wrong. I started thinking about this and wasn't able to find a specific answer in most articles I read.
 

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