The dream of many science fiction lovers, time travel, may end up coming true. We do not know when, but what we do know is that scientists are investigating and that they do not leave as impossible what could change the future, present and past of humanity.
Scientists are convinced that they could have found the key that allows us to end up traveling in time. One of them, theoretical physicist J. Richard Gott, talks about how they might have found the secret in the form of cosmic strings. According to theories, these strings are the answer to some of the main mysteries of the universe, although they are so thin that it is impossible to see them.
The importance of cosmic strings
The definitions provided for cosmic strings navigate theoretical science. The researchers working on them believe that, beyond being so thin that they cannot be seen, the important thing is that they would be of immense size. They could be equivalent to thousands of stars, folding around themselves and continuing to stretch practically to infinity. At the same time, they would generate gravitational waves and, as scientists say, could hide the mystery of time travel.
Although there are two types of cosmic ropes on the table and both have solid research behind them, in principle only one of them would have the capacity to guarantee time travel. This would be the type of cosmic string that takes as its reference the theory that indicates that the universe is made up of particles that are represented as vibrating strings. Within those strings, there would be superstrings of the immense size that we mentioned and that would be the ones that could help make time travel a reality.
What else do scientists know?
What physicist J. Richard Gott mentions is that he made a discovery by which, if two cosmic strings move at a speed that is close to that of light, they could create a path to travel in time. What would be caused would be a loop in space-time, a wormhole like the ones we have already seen in many movies that could be used, theoretically, to travel through time. This theory fits with what Albert Einstein explained at the time, whose theory of relativity supported the possibility of the existence of loops.
The way in which the possible use of these loops is proposed goes beyond the concepts of going back in time to past eras. What the physicist mentions is that, just as Einstein said, it is possible to use light rays across two distances using shortcuts. And to understand it, he gives an easy-to-understand astronomical example. Let’s say that NASA is going to travel to Mars, a journey that will take between 200 and 350 days, almost a year. But in the middle of the distance between Earth and Mars, scientists discover that there is a loop generated by a cosmic string. What they would do, in that case, is travel to the loop and, from there, reach their destination very quickly.
As Gott mentions, when the astronauts arrived on Mars, if they had a camera with which to see what was happening on Earth at that moment, they would see themselves making preparations to leave on their mission. How far is it possible for this theory to come true and travel in time?
The physicist does not want to be optimistic and believes that it is very unlikely that the example, at least, can be fulfilled. The reason for this is that the two cosmic strings have to be in the exact area and, from what he says, it is not something that is easy to satisfy. In addition, another coincidence would have to occur: that both the NASA ship and the cosmic strings were moving at exactly 99.99% of the speed of light.
The risk of being trapped in time
Still, there are several theories that scientists could turn to when they can detect cosmic strings. Everything would have the same objective: to build a time machine. In the example they identify it as the NASA spacecraft, but it could possibly have other forms. The physicist says that, instead of using the infinite cosmic strings that we have talked about, another option would be to use a shorter cosmic string that had the shape of a rectangle.
And the most interesting thing in this case is that there could be very advanced control of the loop and the wormhole. Of course, it raises this possibility for a humanity that is much more advanced in the future or another type of supercivilization. Based on this theory, it would be possible to make a time loop collapse and that would allow the people inside to see their entire lives again. But he insists that because we would be in a black hole, there would be no way out and we would be trapped. The experience would be curious, but it would mark an outcome that, possibly, no one would want to experience.
In any case, although time travel is something that tempts and attracts the attention of all scientists, experts say that, for them, the most juicy thing is being able to discover the secrets of the universe. Time travel is a more secondary thing that scientists who study cosmic strings don’t seem to be all that interested in.
