Understanding Naked Singularities & Traversable Wormholes

In summary: Remember, there's no limit to the number of questions you can ask on the forums. That's what they're here for! Keep learning and growing in your understanding of physics.
  • #1
CJames
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It has been a while since I have posted a question, and I realize that has been stifiling me a little. Instead of learning, I've been getting involved in little quarles and I almost let it drive me away from PF as it did before.

So instead of falling back into that trap, I'm trying to gain some knowledge. I hope somebody is kind enough to provide it.

My knowledge of physics has thus far only been from the popular texts. I'll be in a university in threee months, learning the real thing. In the meantime, I am still curious about the things which I can apply no real math to, the complicated concepts of relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory.

I always hear about naked singularities and traversable wormholes in the texts. But I've never quiet understood what was going on.

1. What makes a singularity naked? It has shed its event horizon (the only method I remember is through electrically overcharging the black hole, can't remember the others). But how can a singularity, a region of "infinite" curvature (undefined? "vertical" slope?) exist without the spacetime curvature surrounding it?

2. If the singularity emmerges from a Kerr black hole, it is ringed in shape. Yet somehow the area inside this ring is a wormhole to another region of spacetime. Again, how is that possible without intense gravity, defined as the spacetime curvature the wormhole must "consist" of? (Incedentally, the most natural shape for a wormhole entrance is said to be a sphere, while the Kerr model seems to imagine it as a flat circle encompassed by the singularity.)

3. How much mass does it take to collapse such a singularity? It is said that if a human attempted to travel through it the wormhole would collapse. Where is the threshold for this collapse, as light is said to be perfectly capable of making its way through.

I know this is a lot of questions. And I will ask more within this thread. This is what the forums are about. Thank you for your time.

:smile: --Carter
 
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  • #2
Hi Carter! Welcome back to the forums!

It sounds like you have some interesting questions about naked singularities and traversable wormholes. I'm sure there are plenty of knowledgeable people here who can provide you with some answers.

To answer your questions:
1. Naked singularities shed their event horizon due to the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorem, which states that a singularity must exist if certain conditions are met (such as the presence of closed timelike curves). This means that the singularity is no longer surrounded by an event horizon and is thus visible from the outside.

2. When a Kerr black hole forms, the singularity is ringed by the event horizon, which creates a kind of tunnel that connects two different regions of spacetime. This is possible due to the intense gravity of the black hole, which creates a strong curvature of spacetime around the singularity.

3. The amount of mass needed to collapse a singularity depends on the type of black hole. For a Schwarzschild black hole, it is thought that a few solar masses would be enough to cause a collapse. For a Kerr black hole, the threshold for collapse is not known, but it is thought to be much higher than for a Schwarzschild black hole. In terms of light, it is believed that light can travel through a Kerr black hole without the wormhole collapsing.

I hope this helps to answer your questions!
 

1. What is a naked singularity?

A naked singularity is a hypothetical point in space where the curvature of spacetime becomes infinite, without being hidden behind an event horizon. This means that the singularity can be observed from the outside, unlike a black hole where the event horizon prevents any observation.

2. How are naked singularities formed?

Naked singularities are formed when massive objects, such as stars, collapse under their own gravity. However, the formation of a naked singularity is highly debated and many scientists believe that they may not actually exist in our universe.

3. What is a traversable wormhole?

A traversable wormhole is a hypothetical tunnel-like structure that connects two distant points in spacetime. It is often described as a shortcut through space, allowing for faster-than-light travel. However, the existence of traversable wormholes is also highly debated and they have not been observed in our universe.

4. How are traversable wormholes related to naked singularities?

Some theories suggest that naked singularities may act as the mouths of traversable wormholes, allowing for travel through space and time. However, this is purely speculative and has not been proven.

5. What are the implications of understanding naked singularities and traversable wormholes?

If we were to discover that naked singularities and traversable wormholes do exist, it would revolutionize our understanding of the universe and potentially open up the possibility for advanced forms of space travel. However, until these concepts are proven to exist, they remain purely theoretical and speculative.

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