According to Shatskiy’s calculations, the way phantom matter deflects light would give the wormhole a signature that astronomers could look out for. The gravity of an object with a positive mass, such as an ordinary black hole, focuses light rays passing close to it as if it were a giant concave lens – an effect known as gravitational lensing. Phantom matter’s negative mass would have the opposite gravitational lensing effect to normal matter, making any light passing through the wormhole from another universe or point in space-time diverge, and emerge from it as a bright ring. Meanwhile, any stars behind it would shine through the middle. Shatskiy suggests that his idea might offer a way for future space-based observatories such as Russia’s planned Millimetron Project to look for wormholes at the centre of large galaxies.
Other researchers point out that the idea relies on several untested assumptions. “It is an interesting attempt to actually think of what a real signature for a wormhole would be, but it is more hypothetical than observational,” says Lawrence Krauss at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. “Without any idea of what phantom matter is and its possible interactions with light, it is not clear one can provide a general argument.” Critics also point out that even if phantom energy does exist, other objects might create a similar light signature. “The basic mechanism would not distinguish wormholes from negative energy ‘stars’,” says Don Marolf at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
What’s more, today’s telescopes would struggle to see the signature in enough detail, says astronomer Daniel Holz at the University of Chicago, though he doesn’t reject Shatskiy’s idea out of hand. “It’s an interesting thing to think about, maybe after a few beers.”
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Author: Amarendra Swarup
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