Method Discovered For Spaceships To Enter Black Holes Intact
By rickyjames, Section News Posted on Wed Apr 16, 2003 at 03:26:45 AM PST
Spaceship travel to another universe through a black hole may be highly improbable, but it cannot be ruled out, according to a new analysis that explores the idea of "hybrid singularity". "There are many science fiction stories where you see these scenarios," researcher Lior Burko, a theoretical physicist at the University of Utah, told United Press International. "While this [a hybrid singularity] does not guarantee you will survive, at least it still keeps the possibility open." At the hearts of black holes, the fabric of reality might be distorted so much that portals to other universes are opened and be used as instantaneous shortcuts through "hyperspace" to far-off corners of our universe, places that otherwise would require millions of years to reach, even at the speed of light. The catch to such intergalactic or universe-spanning trips, traditional physics holds, is the portals are choked off by singularities -- infinitely dense points where all a black hole's mass is concentrated. Where the moon's tidal pull on the Earth can draw ocean waves more than 50 feet high, a singularity could exert unimaginably powerful pulls on any "extended object," or non-point-like item, such as a molecule or larger. The singularity's gravity would stretch a spaceship "infinitely in one direction," Burko said. "Colloquially, it would be called 'spaghettified.'"
Burko's mathematical research suggests when a black hole spins it might form a phenomenon called a "hybrid singularity," a relatively weak zone that could exert only limited tidal forces. Thus entering a black hole could become an exercise like carefully entering a rocky port-of-call by sailing ships of old. However, even if possible theoretically, navigating a spaceship into this black hole's safer zone would remain extremely difficult -- and far beyond existing Earthbound technologies. Geometry becomes a complicated matter near the distorted space and time of a singularity, Burko said. Any mistake in the angle, speed or time of entry could trap a spaceship forever, he added.
"I think the exciting aspect of this work is the fact that (Burko) has demonstrated rather clearly, using a simple model, that indeed an extended object may be able to do hyperspace travel," says gravitational physicist Gaurav Khanna. "Overall, I think it is a rather excellent piece of research."
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