Re: SCI: existance -vs- non-existance

Keith Elis (hagbard@ix.netcom.com)
Wed, 03 Dec 1997 22:15:34 -0500


Ian Camilleri wrote:

> A wormhole, as I understand it, is effectivly an area where space time has
> been curved by a strong enough source of gravity, to the extent that two
> points in space time are briged by a gap, thus allowing fast travel between
> two otherwise distant points.

I was under the impression that such travel would be impossible due to the fact that
wormholes tend to collapse as soon as they form. However, I was speaking with a friend
a while back, and he brought up the subject of Kerr (sp?) black holes. It seems that
these are theoretical black holes in which the singularity is larger than a
mathematical point, elongated perpendicular to an axis of rotation. Some physicists
seem to think that that this singularity may be ring-shaped. If so, this would mean
that one could follow the axis of rotation into the very center, supposedly "passing
through" the singularity (which if I am not mistaken would have the properties of a
wormhole/gravity well).

If it were possible to begin a normal (Schwarzchild) black hole rotating, would one be
able to create such a ring-shaped singularity? Theoretically, this would eliminate the
problem of wormhole collapse since the centrifugal force of rotation would keep it
wide open. Of course, travelling through it would be an entirely different matter...

Keith