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Science fiction story idea:
🕑 Added 2024-08-24 10:08:37 +0000 UTCI'm toying with the concept of a science fiction novel centered on a cattle rancher who discovers a wormhole hidden in the desert. I aim to adhere as closely as possible to the laws of physics, so there will be no use of it for infinite energy or time travel.
I envision the wormhole as a four-dimensional hyperobject with a single side, similar to a Klein bottle. The segment intersecting the three-dimensional plane would manifest as a pair of spheres, looking like some sort of offset mirror when they are close together.
The spheres possess a magnetic field. When isolated, they act as magnetic monopoles and can be manipulated with magnets. In fact, the rancher discovers them adhering to opposite sides of a large piece of lodestone.
An object that enters one sphere immediately exits the other with its velocity and direction rotated by 180 degrees. For instance, a thrown ball would act as though it had bounced off something but would end up on a path parallel to its original trajectory.
Momentum must be conserved; therefore, the wormhole openings would start to move away from the ball's original trajectory like a single object that the ball had collided with, which is what they are. I haven't yet come up with an explanation of how exactly the momentum transfers.
In reality a wormhole about half a meter in size might have a mass similar to Jupiter's. However, in my story, the wormhole has negligible but nonzero mass, maybe a few milligrams. So, if it were not attached to something it would fly away at high speed when touched.
If wormhole openings were brought together, they would annihilate releasing their mass equivalent in energy in the same manner as matter and antimatter, as they are their own antiparticles. If allowed to happen it would result in an explosion similar to a nuke. The characters in my story suspect as much and take precautions to not let that happen. Maybe at the end of the story it does?
If one opening were at the bottom of a hill and the other at the top, an object would have difficulty passing through the lower one, requiring the same kinetic energy needed to go up the hill normally. Passing through the opening at the top would give an object energy. For instance, if a lake were situated atop a hill and had one wormhole opening placed in it, the water would flow out through the lower opening, similar to how it would be siphoned through a hose.
If the openings of a wormhole were widely spaced on Earth, passing through it would need the same energy required to decelerate and then accelerate an object to match Earth's rotational velocity at those points. For example: With the openings at the equator on opposite sides of the earth a rifle bullet fired at 900m/s through one would just plop out the other at a few m/s. Speeds less than that would cause the bullet to get stuck with part of it on both sides.
In the case where the bullet got stuck it would have decelerated rapidly and may experience some deformation, or maybe not. I haven't worked out the specifics on that yet. If a steady force was applied to the stuck bullet, it could be forced the rest of the way through.
The problem of requiring energy (work) to pass through the wormhole can be avoided if something of equal mass is passed through the other opening at the same time. The characters in the story use things like water and a heavy iron rail for the purpose.
Speaking of time, wormholes that allow instant transport between great distances opens the possibility for all sorts of time travel paradoxes. I don't want to deal with that, and I suspect the real universe would not allow it either.
In my story a distant observer would see an object disappear when entering one opening and then reappear some time later at the other. It would look like light speed travel but not faster. If the portals were separated by a light year, the observed travel time would be one year. However, for an object passing through, there would be no experience of time; it would appear instantaneous.
Someone standing directly behind an object passing through would perceive it as freezing in place. Should you extend your arm through, it would seem to compress as if pushing a spring against a wall, but it would not feel too unusual and could be withdrawn without injury.
Anyway, that's what i have for now, its 4:10am as of writing this and I should be getting to bed, I may update this later.
let me know what you think.
Comments
Mikhi6
Could the wormhole look like the one in the Space Engine simulator?
Zappadow
Like the wormhole in Interstellar?
CodyDon Reeder
Swinging a bat at one the bat would pass right through. I should make an animation to demonstrate. 🤔
CodyDon Reeder
The look like a mirrored sphere but the "reflection" is wrong.
CodyDon Reeder
The portals are found inches apart and are too small for a cow to comfortably fit through.
Kyle Purintun
So what about the cattle farmer? Is he losing his cattle to the other side of the world?
SavageBeard
* On mars not “on ears” 🤣
SavageBeard
Interesting concept, seems u can do some fun stuff with that. Just spitballing, are the portals directional? Like the water example, is it pulling water from both sides of the 1 portal. I guess if it was found on a lodestone it must have a solid side of sorts. Also how does it know what side has more potential? Presumably it’s local gravity based? Meaning flow to the higher gravity? Theoretically if one was on ears and one on earth the lower air pressure and lower gravity would just make a suction bringing everything to mars?
Pithonian
Are you envisioning these wormholes as a sort of solid object with defined edges like a 3D version of the portals from Portal, or more of a warped area of spacetime like the wormhole from Interstellar? Is there any volume "inside" the wormhole? If you threw one of them at a wall, would it punch a hole in the wall?
123456789
I mean, your describing an artifact of some kind, not a natural phenomenon. The search would be on for other examples of the technology anywhere in the solar system.
Stephen B. Sullivan
In addition to the earth rotating (wobbling,) we also move through the universe. What do you do about a quantum particle that does and does not pass through the wormhole.
Patrick
I am not a smart man... but I love sci-fi and would buy your books just to support your creativity endeavors. Do it Cody! Let us know if you need any help with your writing.
Tony B
What about objects passing tangential along the surface rather than straight into it? And by extension, a very large object that only partially hits the thing.
Hovado_Lesni
Didn't the Martian get written with real-time commentary/discussion with fans?
Jenny, Ari, & Dov
I would read the bejeebus out of this.
David K
That's absolutely fascinating and has a lot of potential to be a riveting story. Maybe Weir could lend some advice?
David LeCount
It sounds interesting. Good luck. Every time I think about writing a scifi story, I end up getting bogged down in the details, doing the calculations, and giving up because I can't make it as realistic as I would like. It's a tough genre since it needs an interesting story as well as science that isn't obviously absurd to people interested in the subject.
CodyDon Reeder
Great now im thinking about edge cases. Clearly I'm not getting to sleep lol
CodyDon Reeder
It literally is equivalent to having a pipe connection between the points it just happens that the "pipe" exists in the 4th dimension.
CodyDon Reeder
If one end was higher the force needed to get the air molecules to move through the lower one is the same and the pressure differential between the altitudes.
Paul Black
One should consider what the air (air molecules) would do. I think they would pass through like other objects, so nothing extraordinary would happen. If one end were significantly higher than the other (or in an area with higher air pressure), one would feel quite a breeze.
Zappadow
That would make a great Ray Bradbury style Novela! Now get wrighting before the motivation fizzles out!
Urbane Myth
Okay interesting, sounds like you'd need to put a lot of work into synchronisation so you could do the momentum & mass transfer at the right moment. Also, would the remote end get heavier as you were arriving?
CodyDon Reeder
I suppose it would. But only at one end. Otherwise information could be transferred faster than light.
Urbane Myth
Lots of story potential! If to an outside observer there's a measurable transit time, would that mean that while something is in transit, the wormhole mass would increase?
Avand Fardi
Yeah that, and also as soon as you share the idea, or tell your story and people react with good comments, your brain will receive its dopamine shot so it won't motivate you anymore to continue.
CodyDon Reeder
because someone would steal it or?
Effigy
Solid idea! It's clear you have a lot of cool physics to base the story around, try and find a character arc that can be satisfactorily developed alongside them.
Avand Fardi
First book writing rule: Keep all your ideas to yourself!
Gilbert Mörn
I was gifted the book "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir by my girlfriend and I absolutely loved it. I was also really happy to see your name credited at the end. Great job! I look forward to read this if you ever get a chance to finish this!
Chauncey
i love it
