[lit-ideas] Wormholes and Lewis Carroll - Addendum
- From: Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:55:09 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
Sorry, I should have pasted the entire excerpt. Out of context that pragra=
ph made no sense. The excerpt follows:
http://www.greatmystery.org/interviewmk.html
Marshall: Next I want to jump into Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland. =
You use that work to introduce the concept of wormholes. Can you tell us=
a little bit about that story, its author and the nature of stories, thems=
elves, as vehicles for a more complete understanding of the world we inhabi=
t? Maybe you can start off this way =96 how are stories crafted? Are stor=
ies math? Is there a certain mathematical principle to stories in a sense =
that they discharge a formula for us in a way that may be more acceptable t=
o the human mind, which is allegorical in its construct?=20
Kaku: When people look at mathematics and they look at stories, Hollywood =
stories. They say, =93Well gee, Hollywood stories are entertaining, they =
are interesting, they show me something about human nature and mathematics =
is really too bizarre.=94 However that=92s not really the way that the uni=
verse is constructed. I am a physicist and we believe that the universe pr=
oceeds according to principles =96 just a handful of principles. =20
The relativity principle, the quantum principle and that=92s it. =20
The universe evolves through principles, through pictures. Einstein looked=
at the universe through pictures, not through the world of mathematics. M=
athematics is book-keeping in some sense. It allows us to keep track of th=
e picture. For example, take a bed sheet. Rumple the bed sheet. An ant w=
alking along that rumpled bed sheet would say, =93I am tugged by a force =
=96 I=92ll call it gravity. There=92s a star here tugging me, there=92s a =
planet there tugging me.=94 Well we look at the ant from hyperspace and we=
laugh and we say that=92s silly. There is no gravity at all. You are bei=
ng buffeted by the curvature of space itself. =20
Now, the mathematics of a curved bed sheet is pretty, pretty mean. You wou=
ld have to have what is called tensor calculus to be able to describe the c=
urvature of a bed sheet. But the concept is simple. It is nothing but ant=
s walking on a bed sheet. So, in other words, the human mind in some sense=
can grasp some of the deepest understanding of nature - among them, wormh=
oles. Now when we think about wormholes, we think about science fiction an=
d Star Trek and stuff. But that is not where the concept of wormholes was =
first introduced. It was first introduced about 150 years ago in Oxford, E=
ngland. There was a young professor of higher mathematics at Oxford who kne=
w about what are called multiply connected spaces. Think of two sheets of =
paper that are joined at the hip like two Siamese twins. That=92s a wormho=
le. Take a sheet of paper and bend it. Fold it in half. Fold it in the t=
hird dimension. Fold the sheet of paper in hyperspace. That=92s called a =
wormhole. Well these are called multiply connected spaces by mathematicians=
and Charles Dodgson, a professor of mathematics, wanted to write a childre=
n=92s book that conveyed these things because adults, of course, could not =
understand or even want to understand a multiply connected space. So he cr=
eated Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. =20
Well, today we have discovered black holes in outer space - perhaps candida=
tes for Wonderland. At the center of a black hole, we used to think there =
was a dot and anyone falling into the dot would die and therefore there=92s=
no point talking about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge which may take you to the=
other side of a black hole. Einstein himself worked out the Einstein-Rose=
n Bridge =96 a bridge connecting two parallel universes. But he thought no=
one would ever make the journey to the other side of forever. We now are =
not so sure. In 1963, mathematician Rory Curr showed that black holes do n=
ot necessarily collapse to a dot. You don=92t necessarily die. They colla=
pse to rings =96 rings of fire, rings of neutrons - such that anyone fallin=
g through the ring might fall through to the other side of forever. So jus=
t think about that. The looking glass of Alice - the rim, the frame, the o=
uter rim of Alice=92s looking glass - that=92s the black hole. In fact, ju=
st this month, NASA announced beautiful photographs of a spinning black hol=
e. We now know that most black holes spin rapidly at about a million miles=
an hour, sufficient enough to create a ring of neutrons. Anyone falling t=
hrough that ring may wind up on the other side of forever. Now of course, =
this is just a theory. We have never done this before. We have never shot =
a space probe through a black hole. It would take many centuries before we=
could attempt such a feat. However, the mathematics is clear. Einstein=
=92s equations show that there could be a wormhole on the other side of the=
black hole. The only question is stability. We physicists are not sure w=
hether they are stable or not - whether you can successfully make a trip to=
the other side of the universe.=20
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