Wormholes in Space: A Journey Back in Time?

When we look into the vastness of space, we find not only stars, galaxies, and dark matter—material structures—but also phenomena that manipulate time itself. At this boundary where quantum physics and relativity theory intersect, there’s a concept long captured by science fiction: wormholes. Many of us know this word as a shortcut to the universe. However, recent research suggests there may be a much deeper and more surprising reality behind this concept: wormholes may not actually exist, but they offer us a deeper window into the structure of time. Many scientists ask about whether wormholes in space allow for a journey back in time.

What is Einstein-Rosen Bridge?

The idea of ​​a “bridge” (Einstein–Rosen Bridge), put forward by Einstein and Rosen in 1935, was a major step forward for its time. It was designed as a mathematical connection between two space-time segments. At first glance, it looked like a “tunnel” connecting two separate universes or two points in space, hence the name wormhole. For years, science fiction writers have used this concept to create novels and films featuring faster-than-light travel. Thus, Einstein’s limit on the speed of light as absolute speed could be surpassed thanks to wormholes, and civilization could theoretically travel faster than light to any point in the universe. However, recent research suggests as well as some NASA findings show that perhaps wormholes connect not two points in the universe, but rather two points in time.

This reinterpretation leads us to the conclusion that wormholes become a kind of mirror of the microscopic behavior of time. Quantum mechanics, by its very nature, does not distinguish between forward and backward time directions. That is, a system or phenomenon that only moves forward in time can also move backward in time. Einstein’s theory of relativity describes the curvature of spacetime and the effects of mass and energy on this curvature. Achieving harmony between these two monumental theories has been a century-long quest for physicists. The new study suggests that the Einstein-Rosen bridge is precisely an expression of the coexistence of these two time directions. According to this view, wormholes are not shortcuts; they are a geometric reflection of time itself being combined with two different directions. The forward and backward directions of time are interconnected, forming complete systems, much like a physical object. If we only consider the forward direction, we cannot see the whole of time; it’s like watching only half of a film. In a way, it might be possible to jump from the end to the beginning of the film, or from the beginning to the end. This idea sounds unusual, and in a way, radical. For many people, time only flows forward: we are born, we grow, we wake up in the morning, night falls; we age, then we die. But in the mathematics of physics, it’s possible to look at the opposite flow. At the quantum level, fundamental laws often behave symmetrically in both forward and backward directions. Principles like the conservation of energy and the conservation of momentum treat the direction of time as an option. This new interpretation brings precisely this symmetry to the forefront: the Einstein–Rosen bridge could be a natural consequence of a quantum geometry where the two directions of time operate together.

How Does Time Work in a Wormholes?

Thinking about what this means, while challenging for the mind, is possible both physically and mathematically. Instead of simply imagining a wormhole, reality may be far stranger: the fundamental nature of time may require the simultaneous existence of forward and backward directions. This could provide a key to solving the information paradox of black holes. As Stephen Hawking pointed out, black holes “evaporate” over time, and theoretically, the information within them disappears even after a long period. However, one of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics states that information can never be destroyed. This new perspective offers an interesting solution: information doesn’t actually disappear; it only transitions in the backward direction of time.

Such ideas may sound like science fiction, but at the heart of science, there are truly things as bizarre as these. Physics not only explains the reality of the universe but also expands our perceptions. The fact that time has a two-way structure is perhaps nature’s strangest mystery. A model in which forward and backward directions operate together in the universe could revolutionize our understanding of causality in nature, the flow of information, and even what preceded the Big Bang.

What does this tell us? Perhaps wormholes aren’t the gateways we imagine for traveling at the speed of light. They are fragments of mirrors that make us question the nature of time. Perhaps, on this journey into the depths of the universe, our greatest discovery is not space, but time itself. And this discovery could be a turning point in our scientific march toward understanding the universe. After all, when we look at science stories, we often look for a miracle before our eyes: time machines, speed-of-light travel, and parallel universes. Yet the underlying truth may be simpler, more universal, and more astonishing: that both sides of the flow of time are building blocks of the universe. Such an idea could both shake the foundations of cosmology and profoundly fill the human mind. It is a passionate invitation to understand not just one face of physical reality, but the geometric and quantum patterns that lie behind it.