Description
In this course we will explore the state of the art of Traversable Wormholes. The implementation of faster-than-light (FTL) interstellar travel via traversable wormholes generally requires the engineering of spacetime into very specialized local geometries. The analysis of these via Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, plus the resultant equations of state, demonstrates that such geometries require the use of "exotic" matter. It has been claimed that since such matter violates the energy conditions, FTL spacetimes are not plausible. However, it has been shown that this is a spurious issue. The identification and production of exotic matter are seen to be a key technical challenge. These issues are reviewed and summarized here, and an assessment on the present state of their resolution is provided.Wormholes are consistent with the general theory of relativity, but whether wormholes actually exist remains to be seen. Many scientists postulate that wormholes are merely projections of a fourth spatial dimension, analogous to how a two-dimensional (2D) being could experience only part of a three-dimensional (3D) object.Theoretically, a wormhole might connect extremely long distances such as a billion light years, or short distances such as a few meters, or different points in time, or even different universes.
