Are White Holes Possible?
Let's say you count down to five: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. What then? Either you stop counting or you go to -1, -2, -3. In terms of mathematics, there is no situation that will prevent you from counting below zero. Of course, if you apply it to cake slices, things change when you reach zero. If you start with 5 slices of cake and distribute it to someone, after a while your cakes are finished. You can't distribute more cakes at that point. Of course, on a piece of paper, "I owe you a piece of cake." but it would be nonsense to say that the presence of negative numbers indicates the presence of "negative cake slices" and is distributable to people.
A similar situation appears in physics models. One example is the legendary white holes that are occasionally spoken on social media. The logic of these holes is that they are some kind of "anti black hole". Rather than take the material inside and imprison it forever, the white holes scatter around. Consequently, there is a constant accumulation of material around them. There are even theories that black holes and white holes are connected to each other by wormholes.
All interesting ideas; but there is one problem: White holes are probably not real; because they don't have a single piece of data. This idea is so void of negative cake slices somewhere.
The original idea of white holes comes from the mathematical background of the General Theory of Relativity. One of the key features of general relativity is that you can express space and time in any coordinate system. This allows you to select a coordinate system that makes your calculations easier. But at the same time, when you select specific coordinates to make things easier, you should be careful enough to notice when you come across negative cake slices; otherwise, you may reach incorrect results.
One of the commonly used coordinate systems when defining a simple black hole is the Kruskal-Szekeres coordinates. These coordinates are a good way to define space-time around a black hole; but you can expand them further and increase their scope, just like continuing to count below zero. Mathematically there is nothing to prevent you from expanding your coordinates. When you do this, you do not just define the black hole; you also conclude that a white hole is the opposite of a black hole. However, this does not mean that white holes exist; it does not even hypothesis.
You see a similar example in the image here. This is a drawing of the hyperbolic coordinate system. It is used to identify infinite surfaces, and it does so by showing the closer areas larger, the more distant areas smaller. But just because you can define an infinite surface does not mean that you can walk through its boundaries.
Mathematics is a powerful tool for astrophysics, but you need to pay attention to what it represents.
A similar situation appears in physics models. One example is the legendary white holes that are occasionally spoken on social media. The logic of these holes is that they are some kind of "anti black hole". Rather than take the material inside and imprison it forever, the white holes scatter around. Consequently, there is a constant accumulation of material around them. There are even theories that black holes and white holes are connected to each other by wormholes.
All interesting ideas; but there is one problem: White holes are probably not real; because they don't have a single piece of data. This idea is so void of negative cake slices somewhere.
The original idea of white holes comes from the mathematical background of the General Theory of Relativity. One of the key features of general relativity is that you can express space and time in any coordinate system. This allows you to select a coordinate system that makes your calculations easier. But at the same time, when you select specific coordinates to make things easier, you should be careful enough to notice when you come across negative cake slices; otherwise, you may reach incorrect results.
One of the commonly used coordinate systems when defining a simple black hole is the Kruskal-Szekeres coordinates. These coordinates are a good way to define space-time around a black hole; but you can expand them further and increase their scope, just like continuing to count below zero. Mathematically there is nothing to prevent you from expanding your coordinates. When you do this, you do not just define the black hole; you also conclude that a white hole is the opposite of a black hole. However, this does not mean that white holes exist; it does not even hypothesis.
You see a similar example in the image here. This is a drawing of the hyperbolic coordinate system. It is used to identify infinite surfaces, and it does so by showing the closer areas larger, the more distant areas smaller. But just because you can define an infinite surface does not mean that you can walk through its boundaries.
Mathematics is a powerful tool for astrophysics, but you need to pay attention to what it represents.
No comments