Wormholes Without Exotic Matter ⚡ экспресс
Scientists investigated whether wormholes — tunnels in spacetime — could exist in a modified gravity theory. Usually, such tunnels require mysterious 'exotic matter,' but in this model, the higher-order corrections themselves act as a support, like a bridge arch that distributes the load. So, are traversable wormholes possible without the exotic stuff?
A wormhole is a tunnel through the fabric of spacetime, an idea expanded by John Wheeler and Kip Thorne. Just as a mountain passage tends to cave in, the throat of a wormhole wants to snap shut. Normally, it's propped open with exotic matter that has negative energy—a substance that pushes space apart, like dark energy. Only we don't have any.
Now, researchers have revisited gravity. Instead of hunting for nonexistent material, they tweaked the equations, adding extra spacetime curvature. Think of an arch bridge: to keep a span from falling, you could prop it with beams you lack, or you can design the arch's curve so it holds itself. Here, the geometry of space is the support. The math checks out: a traversable wormhole (a cousin of black holes) works without exotic matter, and the forces inside are no stronger than Earth's gravity. Sci-fi portals become a far-future engineering challenge.
🎯 Physicist John Wheeler coined the term "wormhole," comparing spacetime to an apple a worm bores through.
🎬 In the movie Interstellar, a wormhole let the heroes cross the galaxy in an instant.