References
1)http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Interstellar_travel , 2)http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/deepspace/wormholes/index.shtml 3)http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae281.cfm
Worm Holes
Wormholes are one of those things that any science fiction fan will know about yet not be able to explain. Well in truth even scientists cant really explain how they work either. In fact all scientist have agreed upon with over 10 years of tests and studies is that there is no proof that wormholes dont exist.
Now this isnt much to start out our search for an explanation of how wormholes can be used in space travel. Yet ive collected a series of documents and books and combined the information in an attempt to at least give a broad idea on the theoretical ideas behind it.
Wormholes are simply warps in space/time which cause it to bend back on itself. Now theoretically, a wormhole could be formed when two or more massive bodies warp space and the fabric of space collides, forming a tunnel between distant place. If you could understand that perfectly well im impressed, but for those not quite grasping the idea fully, think of it in two dimensions. Space is a piece of paper bent over on itself. Now if a weight were set on the top side, the paper would sag in, and vice versa on the opposite side. If the weights on both side finally brought the paper to touch, a "Wormhole" is formed.
It is not known whether or not wormholes are possible in in the universe. Although there are solutions to general relativity which allow for wormholes, all of the currently known solutions involve some assumption, for example the existence of negative mass, which may be unphysical. Yet wormholes are a possible consequence of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Einstein came up with the remarkable idea that mass warps space, and the bigger the mass, the more space will be bent. "This strange conjecture was proved by Arthur Eddington in 1919, when he journeyed to the Amazon forest for the solar eclipse and proved that the Moon bent light from the Sun as it crossed in front." Thus theoretically, a wormhole could be formed when two or more massive bodies warp space and the fabric of space collides, forming a tunnel between distant places.
Now just to complicate things more there are two types of worm holes that may may be used for interstellar travel. The first, originates the in much the smae way as a black hole, the death of a star. A worm hole of this nature would have to be super massive (i.e. Sagittarius A size, or for those who dont know what that is, the black hole at the center of our galaxy) to be theoretically safe enough for humans to travel through, as a smaller black hole would destroy any object falling into it. Now if we found ourselves a "wormhole" of this magnitude and entered it safely we hypothetically cross whats called and "Einstein-Rosen Bridge" and jump between two connecting points, times or even universes
The second type of wormholes (Euclidean wormholes) are based on Quantum gravity. Some speculate these wormholes spontaneously come in and out of being and exist at scales of planck length( or see *). With this type of wormhole it may be possible to "prop" open the hole using negative energy (not antimatter, but rather and an area with more vacum than space as shown in the casmir effect-see **), but the amount of energy required would be astronomical. Yet, it is not even clear if any of this is possible as currently no theory of quantum gravity is widely accepted to back it up.
*THE PLANCK LENGTH: is the scale at which classical ideas about gravity and space-time cease to be valid, and quantum effects dominate. This is the ‘quantum of length’, the smallest measurement of length with any meaning.
And roughly equal to 1.6 x 10-35 m or about 10-20 times the size of a proton.
The Planck time is the time it would take a photon travelling at the speed of light to across a distance equal to the Planck length. This is the ‘quantum of time’, the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10-43 seconds. No smaller division of time has any meaning. With in the framework of the laws of physics as we understand them today, we can say only that the universe came into existence when it already had an age of 10-43 seconds.
**THE CASIMIR EFFECT: In 1948 Dutch physicist Hendrik B. G. Casimir of Philips Research Labs predicted that two uncharged parallel metal plates will have an attractive force pressing them together. This force is only measurable when the distance between the two plates is extremely small, on the order of several atomic diameters. This attraction is called the Casimir effect.
The Casimir effect is caused by the fact that space is filled with vacuum fluctuations, virtual particle-antiparticle pairs that continually form out of nothing and then vanish back into nothing an instant later. The gap between the two plates restricts the range of wavelengths possible for these virtual particles, and so fewer of them are present within this space. This results in a lower energy density between the two plates than is present in open space; in essence, there is "less than nothing" between the two plates, creating negative energy and pressure, which pulls the plates together.
The narrower the gap, the more restricted the wavelength of the virtual particles, the more negative the energy and pressure, the more restricted the vacuum modes and the smaller the vacuum energy density, and thus the stronger is the attractive force.