4. TIME TRAVEL VIA BLACKHOLE
• Inside a black hole is where the real mystery lies. According to Einstein's
theory, time and space, in a way, trade places inside the hole. Inside the black
hole, the flow of time itself draws falling objects into the center of the black
hole. No force in the universe can stop this fall, any more than we can stop
the flow of time
• At the very centre of the black hole is where our understanding breaks
down. Einstein's theory of gravity seems to predict that time itself is
destroyed at the centre of the hole: time comes to an abrupt end there. For
this reason, a black hole is sometimes described as the "reverse of creation."
5.
6. • General relativity also allows for the possibility for shortcuts through spacetime,
known as wormholes, which might be able to bridge distances of a billion light
years or more, or different points in time.
• Many physicists, including Stephen Hawking, believe wormholes are constantly
popping in and out of existence at the quantum scale, far smaller than atoms. The
trick would be to capture one, and inflate it to human scales – a feat that would
require a huge amount of energy, but which might just be possible, in theory.
• Attempts to prove this either way have failed, ultimately because of the
incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics.
TIME TRAVEL VIA WORMHOLES
7.
8. PHYSICIST WHO FOCUSED ON TIME TRAVEL,
PARALLEL UNIVERSE, AND WORMHOLES
• Wormholes were first theorized in 1916, though that wasn't what they were called at the
time. While reviewing another physicist's solution to the equations in Albert Einstein‘s
theory of general relativity, Austrian physicist Ludwig Flamm realized another solution
was possible. He described a "white hole," a theoretical time reversal of a black hole.
Entrances to both black and white holes could be connected by a space-time conduit.
• Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist at the City College of New York, a best-
selling author, and a well-known populariser of science. He’s the co-founder of string
field theory (a branch of string theory) and continues Einstein’s search to unite the four
fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory.