Quantum entanglement is a physical process in which pairs of particles connect and remain connected even when separated by large distances. This fascinating phenomenon has been the subject of much research due to its mysterious nature and promising real-world applications. University of the Holy Cross researcher Ben Kain recently presented a simulation-based model describing the possible connection between entangled particles and wormholes, hypothetical connections between zero-regions. distant time. His model, presented in the journal Physical Review Letters, constitutes a specific framework that can be used to test and study recent theories put forth by physicists Juan Maldacena and Leonard Susskind .
“In 2019, I studied what are called Dirac stars,” Kain told Phys.org. “Fermions, described by the Dirac equation, when combined with general relativity, have a star-like solution in which the fermions can maintain their configuration through their gravitational interactions. Please note that , traditional descriptions of stars, which are of course full of fermions, do not fully account for general relativity. With the help of two undergraduates from the College of the Holy Cross, Kain previously wrote code that allowed him to simulate Dirac’s stars. A few years ago, other researchers discovered that when these Dirac systems carry an electrical charge, they can contain wormholes. Wormholes are solutions to Einstein’s gravitational field equation, which can be visualized as tunnels with two ends located at distant locations and/or at different times. Recent papers suggest that charged Dirac stars have a wormhole solution, assuming that the wormhole is traversable, meaning that particles can move from one side to the other.
“I thought it would be interesting if I could simulate this wormhole and confirm whether this wormhole is traversable,” Kain said. “The Dirac system I focus on uses two fermions (i.e. two particles that obey the Pauli exclusion principle). My simulation requires the system to be spherically symmetric, as this makes it easier to solve. To be spherically symmetric, the total angular momentum of the system must be zero. This results in both fermions being in a so-called “single state,” which entangles the particles. ” (a) The purple dashed curve shows the approximate location of each particle. The blue curves represent the path the light rays will take. The distinctive shape of these blue curves is convincing evidence of the formation of black holes and, moreover, they outline horizons.
About ten years ago, physicists Maldacena and Susskind proposed the idea that entangled particles are connected by wormholes. This is a bold and radical conjecture, as it offers a gravity-related explanation (i.e., wormholes) of a quantum mechanical phenomenon (i.e., entanglement). “Entanglement requires faster-than-light communication, even though humans cannot exploit faster-than-light communication to send faster-than-light messages to each other,” Kain explains. “Maldacena and Susskind suggested that this faster-than-light communication could occur through a wormhole. They further proposed that the wormhole must be impassable (i.e., humans could not pass through it) to accommodate the fact that this wormhole cannot be exploited by humans.” Wormhole system to send messages faster than light. In his recent paper, Kain presented a new model that could help explore Maldacena and Susskind’s hypothesis. The model is based on the simulation of two entangled fermions connected by a wormhole.
When running this simulation, Kain found that in this scenario, black holes form rapidly, covering both ends of the wormhole. These black holes eventually make the wormhole impassable, meaning nothing can pass through it and reach the other end. “Since the model describes two entangled fermions connected by an impassable wormhole, this is a specific model for studying the Maldacena and Susskind hypothesis,” Kain said. “They named their hypothesis ER = EPR. ER stands for Einstein-Rosen bridge, the first name for a wormhole. EPR stands for Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen, the first to study entangled particles. Therefore, the model I study is a concrete example of ER = EPR.” The recent paper presents a new model to explore the possible connection between quantum entanglement and wormholes. Kain hopes that by examining his model in more detail, researchers will be able to determine whether Maldacena and Susskind’s hypothesis is correct, and also determine how a wormhole could create conditions for faster-than-light communication, a key requirement of entanglement
.One idea I have for future work is to extend the simulations to allow matter to move to one side of the wormhole, thereby entering the black hole and passing through the wormhole,” Kain added. “I’m interested in how this might affect the system.” source: Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.101001