Curious Kids: What is exotic matter, and could we use it to make wormholes?

 



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This text was initially revealed at The Conversation (opens in new tab). The publication contributed the article to House.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Carolyn Devereux (opens in new tab) is a senior lecturer in astrophysics on the Centre for Astrophysics Analysis on the College of Hertfordshire.

What’s unique matter, and will we use it to make wormholes? – Julia, aged 14, London

Matter is “stuff.” It’s something that’s made up of particles that take up space. All the things we will really feel and see on Earth is matter, and it is often in one in every of three varieties: stable, liquid or fuel. This could possibly be the chair you are sitting on, sea water, or the helium in a balloon.

There are different kinds of matter that don’t behave just like the gases, liquids or solids that we usually encounter on Earth. Those that behave within the weirdest methods are referred to as exotic matter.

We are able to create unique matter in laboratories by cooling some supplies to very low temperatures. Extraordinarily chilly helium is one instance. It’s referred to as superfluid helium (opens in new tab), and is a liquid that may climb partitions.

Associated: What are wormholes? An astrophysicist explains these shortcuts through space-time

It is doable that unique matter might one day clarify a few of the mysteries of space. It is perhaps a key ingredient for making a wormhole (opens in new tab).

Bending space and time

A wormhole is one thing that connects two locations in the universe by bending space. A wormhole has by no means been discovered, but when it did exist then it might obey our legal guidelines of gravity.

In 1687, scientist Isaac Newton stated that gravity is created by the mass of an object. The mass of an object is the quantity of matter in it. Which means that the extra matter there’s within the object then the larger the gravitational pull in the direction of that object.

In 1915, physicist Albert Einstein modified our view of what creates gravity. Einstein stated that matter bends space. He stated that transferring objects will observe the curvature of this bent space, and it’s this that creates the impact of gravity.

Albert Einstein in 1921, when he gained the Nobel Prize for physics. (Picture credit score: Nobel Basis archive/Wikimedia Commons)

CURIOUS KIDS

(Picture credit score: The Dialog)

Curious Kids (opens in new tab) is a sequence by The Conversation (opens in new tab) that provides kids the prospect to have their questions concerning the world answered by specialists.

When you have a query you’d like an professional to reply, ship it to curiouskids@theconversation.com and ensure you embody the asker’s first identify, age and city or metropolis. We cannot be capable to reply each query, however we’ll do our best.

For instance, Earth is fabricated from matter, and it makes the space round it bend. When objects transfer across the Earth they observe the bent space which makes them fall in the direction of Earth. That is what we name gravity. This curving of space brought on by matter additionally impacts time. The extra curved space is, then the slower time passes. As a result of space and time are so carefully linked, we frequently speak about space-time when investigating how the universe works.

A wormhole is fashioned by space-time curving in such a means {that a} tunnel types between two separate areas within the universe. The place the tunnel comes out into space it’s referred to as the “mouth.” A wormhole has two mouths that may be separated by an unlimited distance, and the tunnel itself known as the “throat.”

Making a wormhole

One sort of unique matter that could possibly be associated to wormholes is matter with negative mass. All matter we all know has a optimistic mass and is drawn to different matter because of gravity – like an apple falling to Earth. Matter with a destructive mass would push different matter away from it.

The physicist Kip Thorne proposed that destructive matter can be wanted to maintain a wormhole secure as soon as it has fashioned. Now we have by no means detected destructive matter, and we don’t even know what it will appear like, however it’s one thing that we will put into equations and perceive how it will behave if it did exist.

Though we will say what a wormhole is, we have no idea the way to create one, so we can’t know if exotic matter could make wormholes.

Wormholes are attention-grabbing to scientists and science fiction writers as a result of there’s a risk that wormholes might hyperlink two areas in space which might be far aside. In the event that they did exist, we might maybe journey huge distances throughout the universe in a short while.

This text is republished from The Conversation (opens in new tab) beneath a Artistic Commons license. Learn the original article (opens in new tab).

Comply with all the Skilled Voices points and debates — and turn into a part of the dialogue — on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab). The views expressed are these of the creator and don’t essentially replicate the views of the writer.

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