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了黑洞會發(fā)生什么，但可以肯定地說，你不會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)和中國揚州大學(xué)的物理學(xué)家們在《物理評論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.

那將是一個蟲洞，一個完全理論上的時空捷徑，連接著宇宙中兩個完全不同的位置。

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。但任何探測器要到達離我們最近的銀河系食肉動物，都需要數(shù)千年的時間。

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，但他們設(shè)計了一種新技術(shù)來區(qū)分蟲洞和它們的黑心兄弟。長時間地凝視黑洞我們這邊的恒星——很可能是幾十年——它的抖動就會說明，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，事情就沒那么簡單了。首先，我們還沒有設(shè)備可以在這么遠的距離進行如此敏感的觀測。另一方面，結(jié)果仍然不是決定性的。如果S2沒有任何擺動的跡象，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)我們達到觀測所需的精度時，我們可能會說，如果我們探測到S2軌道的擾動，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，這絕對是一個蟲洞。’”

But at least Albert Einstein gives the concept some credence.

但至少愛因斯坦給了這個概念一些可信度。

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

根據(jù)他一個多世紀前提出的廣義相對論，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.

每個人至少都同意，如果蟲洞是真實的，它們不會幫助遙遠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通過，”斯托伊科維奇指出。“實際上，你需要一個負能量來源來保持蟲洞打開，我們不知道怎么做。要創(chuàng)造一個穩(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的文明還沒有撬開一個蟲洞——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魔法。他們給這個以早餐吃海鮮聞名的地方帶來了一線希望。