In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of
spacetime that is fundamentally a ‘shortcut’ through space and time.
Spacetime can be viewed as a 2D surface (to simplify understanding)
that, when ‘folded’ over, allows the formation of a wormhole bridge. A
wormhole has at least two mouths that are connected to a single throat
or tube. If the wormhole is traversable, then matter can ‘travel’ from
one mouth to the other by passing through the throat. While there is no
observational evidence for wormholes, spacetimes containing wormholes
are known to be valid solutions in general relativity.
The term
wormhole was coined by the American theoretical physicist John Archibald
Wheeler in 1957. However, the idea of wormholes had already been
theorized in 1921 by the German mathematician Hermann Weyl in connection
with his analysis of mass in terms of electromagnetic field energy.
This
analysis forces one to consider situations…where there is a net flux of
lines of force through what topologists would call a handle of the
multiply-connected space and what physicists might perhaps be excused
for more vividly terming a wormhole.
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