The Search for Phantom "Wormhole Stars"

 

Scientists usually imagine wormholes connecting regions of empty space, but a study led by Vladimir Dzhunushaliev at the Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan suggests that wormholes might exist between distant stars. Instead of being empty tunnels, these wormholes would contain a perfect fluid that flows back and forth between the two stars, possibly giving them a detectable signature.


Millimetron is a millimeter and sub-millimeter space observatory with a 10 meter diameter mirror, very sensitive receivers for single dish mode and will be used for orbiting VLBI (Very Long Base Interferometer). This telescope would be convenient for a very sensitive all sky survey with the possibility of constructing images of sources with a very high angular resolution. The mission will be useful for the search for possible astro-engineering constructions in the universe predicted by
Prineton's Freeman Dyson.

The goal of the project is to construct a space observatory operating in millimeter, sub-millimeter and infrared wavelength ranges using 12-m cryogenic telescope. The observatory will provide possibility to conduct astronomical observations with super high sensitivity (down to nanoJansky level) in a single dish mode, and observations with super high angular resolution.

An ordinary black hole focuses light rays passing close to it as if it were a giant concave lens – an effect known as gravitational lensing. A wormhole's negative mass  of phantom matter would have the opposite gravitational lensing effect to normal matter, making any light passing through the wormhole from another universe or point in space-time diverge, and emerge from it as a bright ring. Meanwhile, any stars behind it would shine through the middle.

“It is an interesting attempt to actually think of what a real signature for a wormhole would be, but it is more hypothetical than observational,” says Lawrence Krauss professor and director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University. “Without any idea of what phantom matter is and its possible interactions with light, it is not clear one can provide a general argument.”

Millimetron Project is included into the Space Research Program of Russian Federation for 2015. The launch date for the first spacecraft is planned for 2016.

Meanwhile, the team led by Vladimir Dzhunushaliev began investigating the idea of wormholes between stars when they were researching what kinds of astrophysical objects could serve as entrances to wormholes. According to previous models, some of these objects could look similar to stars.

This idea led the scientists to wonder if wormholes might exist in otherwise ordinary stars and neutron stars. From a distance, these stars would look very much like normal stars (and normal neutron stars), but they might have a few differences that could be detectable.

To investigate these differences, the researchers developed a model of an ordinary star with a tunnel at the star’s center, through which matter could move. Two stars that share a wormhole would have a unique connection, since they are associated with the two mouths of the wormhole. Because exotic matter in the wormhole could flow like a fluid between the stars, both stars would likely pulse in an unusual way. This pulsing could lead to the release of various kinds of energy, such as ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays.

For now, the difficult part is calculating exactly what kinds of oscillations are occurring, and what kind of energy is being released. This information would allow scientists to predict what a wormhole-containing star might look like from Earth, and begin searching for these otherwise normal-looking stars.

Provided by The Daily Galaxy - Vladimir Dzhunushaliev, et al. "A Star Harbouring a Wormhole at its Center." arXiv:1102.4454v1 [astro-ph.GA] and physorg.com