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Okay, let's assume that travel between star systems is done through stable, stationary wormholes on the outer boundaries of each system. This alone is slightly magic for now, of course, but let's roll with it.

I want to solve the light speed problem for communications as well. Obviously, communications between both systems as a whole could use the connecting wormhole, but communications between distant things within a system would still be delayed if using normal means.

Our understanding of quantum entanglement, at the moment, suggests it's actually kind of useless for communication, so I was wondering considering tiny wormholes leading to a central communications hub. But, I wonder, if your ship has a tiny microscopic wormhole it's carrying around, what happens when it carries it through that big one?

Wormholes are three-dimensional tunnels through four-dimensional space, what happens when they cross like that? Obviously, any answer would be theory at best, conjecture at worst.

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    $\begingroup$ Within the constraints of general relativity this is a solvable problem, albeit a stupidly hard one. $\endgroup$
    – Joe Bloggs
    Jan 22, 2019 at 10:46
  • $\begingroup$ What mechanism are you seeing as generating the wormhole? Are they naturally occurring areas of flat space? A neutron star shaped into a toroid then collapsed into a black hole ? Pure handwavium? $\endgroup$
    – pojo-guy
    Jan 22, 2019 at 10:48
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    $\begingroup$ Which of wormhole theories are you osing? $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Jan 22, 2019 at 10:49
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    $\begingroup$ Interesting question, also interesting to consider whether you are 'threading' one wormhole through the other, i.e. does w2 rely on w1 remaining 'open' or are you just moving it around in space. Is there a limit to the number of wormholes that can be nested that way etc. You could use this as a security mechanism, you and your allies both thread wormholes through each others, meaning both have the power to cut off the connection etc. $\endgroup$
    – JeffUK
    Jan 22, 2019 at 11:42

3 Answers 3

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Within the constraints of general relativity this is a solvable problem, albeit a stupidly hard one. – Joe Bloggs

I agree with this assessment.

Wormholes are theoretically consistent with general relativity, but they are speculative.

So even if one were to calculate all the details of the proposed scenario there is no data to base this on.

If you have ever seen any calculations of relativity, you know that it quickly becomes complicated if you want to do more than calculate time dilation for two differently moving bodies.

The proposed scenario would definitely be a very complicated one and even if anyone (definitely not me) would post it here in an answer there would only be a very low number of readers able to understand it.

Wormholes connect two points in spacetime, which means that they would in principle allow travel in time, as well as in space. - Wikipedia

Note that they are not "points" as in singularities, but they stretch in all 4 dimensions. This means they occupy a 3 dimensional space over a span of time. (Relativity makes it a little more complex, but let's keep it at that.)

Coupled Wormholes would remain a constant link between two of these 4 dimensional portions of space-time.

While I personally have no idea how to represent that in math, I see no direct problem in why a smaller portion of space-time couldn't 'move' through another as long as neither changes state in some way that it would break the link.

I don't see a problem, since - if we already have traversable wormholes - objects and other forms of energy can move through it, why would another wormhole be different? I believe the scientists who have shown that theoretically objects can move through unharmed and without inconsistency with current knowledge, so I see no reason why a space-time link would be any different.

I think so because for any given moment you can define where the wormhole is, even if it just partially traversed the other wormhole and if an object would move through the inner wormhole in that moment it would not be changed at all, even if it is only half through the outer one - because we already assumed it could move through the other without problems.

However the mere concept of this is two layers of hypothesis and no hard data to back any of this up.

Conclusion

I do not think there is an apparent inconsistency with the scientific agreement that wormholes are theoretically possible and if you use that within a world you created you wouldn't create logical inconsistencies. A little bit of hand-waving is probably required anyway, unless you want to do the math of relativistically consistent wormholes for yourself and possibly readers.

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    $\begingroup$ Good answer! It's worth considering that if (a very big 'if') wormholes can be made to be stable, and if they can be made wide in diameter, the space in their throat is just plane old space and there's no obvious reason why there couldn't be another one threaded through. (I mean "no obvious reason except that wormholes are speculate entities and are probably extremely unstable even if they exist.") $\endgroup$
    – Mark Olson
    Jan 22, 2019 at 17:47
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Probably not, but that might not matter.

A wormhole is a connection between two different points of space time. They are not physical objects that you can just carry around with you. If a wormhole were to move, it would also move whatever is connecting these two points in space time, and would probably need a lot of energy just to maintain the connection.

However...

If you are able to just open up a little wormhole whenever you want, then close it again (don't accelerate), then your problem is solved because the device that makes the wormholes can move through a wormhole, then open a little one on the other side. Then you don't have to worry about wormholes going through wormholes. You're just making new ones as needed.

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  • $\begingroup$ any wormhole has two ends, and the wormhole factory will produce linked ends, it's then a task to deliver the ends to useful locations. $\endgroup$
    – Jasen
    Jan 27, 2019 at 9:02
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The only place I've seen this notion considered is in a pop science book: The Physics of Stargates - Parallel Universes, Time Travel, and the Enigma of Wormhole Physics by Enrico Rodrigo.

In Chapter 11 there's a section called "Wormhole Networks", which I believe addresses your question.

The short answer to it is "yes".

Nothing peculiar happens when you move a wormhole mouth into another wormhole.

The reason, as I understand it, is that if you eliminate constraints on matter (e.g. by allowing it to be "exotic"), you permit spacetime to have whatever configuration you wish, including wormholes within wormholes.

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