我們星系中心的黑洞真的是蟲洞嗎?

我們星系中心的黑洞真的是蟲洞嗎?

While no one knows for sure what would happen if you fell into a black hole, it's probably safe to say that you wouldn't be back this way again.

雖然沒有人確切地知道如果你掉進(jìn)了黑洞會(huì)發(fā)生什么，但可以肯定地說，你不會(huì)再以這種方式回來了。

A wormhole could theoretically connect two different points in spacetime. (Photo: Rost9/Shutterstock)

Now, try to imagine another possibility, that instead of being a final destination for all things, a black hole is actually a doorway. Or better yet, a hub in an intergalactic transportation network, otherwise known as a wormhole.

現(xiàn)在，試著想象另一種可能性，黑洞不是所有事物的最終目的地，而是一扇門。更棒的是，它是星系間運(yùn)輸網(wǎng)絡(luò)的樞紐，也被稱為蟲洞。

That's exactly what physicists from the University of Buffalo and China's Yangzhou University aim to do with research published in the journal Physical Review D.

這正是布法羅大學(xué)和中國(guó)揚(yáng)州大學(xué)的物理學(xué)家們?cè)凇段锢碓u(píng)論D》雜志上發(fā)表的研究成果。

That would be a wormhole, an entirely theoretical shortcut in spacetime that links two disparate locations in the universe.

那將是一個(gè)蟲洞，一個(gè)完全理論上的時(shí)空捷徑，連接著宇宙中兩個(gè)完全不同的位置。

The most conclusive way to find out would be to send something through one of these all-consuming hoovers. But it would take thousands of years for any probe to reach our nearest galactic carnivore.

最具決定性的方法是通過這些吞噬一切的吸盤傳送一些東西。但任何探測(cè)器要到達(dá)離我們最近的銀河系食肉動(dòng)物，都需要數(shù)千年的時(shí)間。

Instead, the research team focused on a certain canary that's been hanging around the coal mine known as Sagittarius (Sag) A*. That's the black hole thought to preside over the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. And the "canary" would be a star called S2 that's been dawdling recklessly around the supermassive black hole's mouth for millennia.

相反，研究小組關(guān)注的是一直在煤礦附近游蕩的一種叫人馬座(射手座)的金絲雀。這就是被認(rèn)為位于我們銀河系中心的黑洞。而“金絲雀”則是一顆叫做S2的恒星，它在超大質(zhì)量黑洞的嘴巴周圍肆無忌憚地游蕩了數(shù)千年。

So how would you know?

你怎么知道?

In their new research, the physicists don't yet offer an answer, but they devise a new technique for distinguishing wormholes from their black-hearted brethren. Stare at the star on our side of the black hole long enough — likely for several decades — and its telltale wobble will suggest something on the other side of the chasm is pulling its gravitational strings.

在他們的新研究中，物理學(xué)家們還沒有給出答案，但他們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)了一種新技術(shù)來區(qū)分蟲洞和它們的黑心兄弟。長(zhǎng)時(shí)間地凝視黑洞我們這邊的恒星——很可能是幾十年——它的抖動(dòng)就會(huì)說明，在黑洞的另一邊，有什么東西在拉著它的引力弦。

Of course, since theoretical wormholes are even weirder than theoretical black holes, it's not that simple. For one thing, we don't yet have the equipment for such a sensitive observation at that kind of distance. And for another, the result still wouldn't be conclusive. If S2 doesn't show any sign of a wobble, that could just mean there's no star at the other end of the tunnel.

當(dāng)然，既然理論上的蟲洞比理論上的黑洞更古怪，事情就沒那么簡(jiǎn)單了。首先，我們還沒有設(shè)備可以在這么遠(yuǎn)的距離進(jìn)行如此敏感的觀測(cè)。另一方面，結(jié)果仍然不是決定性的。如果S2沒有任何擺動(dòng)的跡象，那就意味著在隧道的另一端沒有恒星。

"When we reach the precision needed in our observations, we may be able to say that a wormhole is the most likely explanation if we detect perturbations in the orbit of S2," Stojkovic notes in the release. "But we cannot say that, 'Yes, this is definitely a wormhole.'"

“當(dāng)我們達(dá)到觀測(cè)所需的精度時(shí)，我們可能會(huì)說，如果我們探測(cè)到S2軌道的擾動(dòng)，蟲洞是最有可能的解釋，”斯托伊科維奇在新聞稿中寫道。“但我們不能說，‘是的，這絕對(duì)是一個(gè)蟲洞。’”

But at least Albert Einstein gives the concept some credence.

但至少愛因斯坦給了這個(gè)概念一些可信度。

According to his more-than-a-century-old theory of general relativity, a wormhole could exist, at least mathematically.

根據(jù)他一個(gè)多世紀(jì)前提出的廣義相對(duì)論，蟲洞可能存在，至少在數(shù)學(xué)上是存在的。

Keeping a wormhole open would require a kind of energy that we have no idea how to create. (Photo: Dimonika/Shutterstock)

Everyone at least agrees that if wormholes were real, they wouldn't help faraway aliens get their Amazon packages any faster.

每個(gè)人至少都同意，如果蟲洞是真實(shí)的，它們不會(huì)幫助遙遠(yuǎn)的外星人更快地拿到他們的亞馬遜包裹。

Spacecraft, much less people, wouldn't be able to squeeze through the wormhole's mouth. Opening the mouth of a wormhole, at least in theory, requires an impossible amount of energy. And if it could be opened, those jaws would clamp down again almost instantly, according to a 1935 amendment to Einstein's ideas called the Einstein-Rosen theory.

飛船，更不用說人了，將無法通過蟲洞的嘴巴。打開一個(gè)蟲洞的嘴，至少在理論上，需要大量的能量。根據(jù)1935年愛因斯坦的“愛因斯坦-羅森理論”修正案，如果它能被打開，這些下巴會(huì)立即再次咬住。

In that regard, the wormhole researchers are inclined to agree.

在這方面，蟲洞研究人員傾向于同意。

"Even if a wormhole is traversable, people and spaceships most likely aren't going to be passing through," Stojkovic notes. "Realistically, you would need a source of negative energy to keep the wormhole open, and we don't know how to do that. To create a huge wormhole that's stable, you need some magic."

“即使蟲洞是可以穿越的，人和宇宙飛船也很可能不會(huì)通過，”斯托伊科維奇指出。“實(shí)際上，你需要一個(gè)負(fù)能量來源來保持蟲洞打開，我們不知道怎么做。要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造一個(gè)穩(wěn)定的巨大蟲洞，你需要一些魔法。”

Then again, who's to say more advanced civilizations in the universe haven't already managed to pry open a wormhole — and turned Sag A* into one of the busiest superhighways in the cosmos?

然而，誰又能說宇宙中更先進(jìn)的文明還沒有撬開一個(gè)蟲洞——把Sag a *變成宇宙中最繁忙的高速公路之一呢?

At the very least, the researchers have conjured a little magic of their own. They cast a ray of hope on a place that famously eats rays for breakfast.

至少，研究人員自己變出了一點(diǎn)魔法。他們給這個(gè)以早餐吃海鮮聞名的地方帶來了一線希望。