Wormholes in Space

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Sindri

What does quantum mechanical mean in this context? Like casimir effect stuff instead of normal stuff only with negative mass?

well, probably everything is quantum mechanical and there is no way around it. But we are not entirely sure, since we don't have a quantum theory of gravity.

In any event, "normal stuff with negative mass" would have several unpleasant properties. Normally, an electric field will do work on charged particles by moving them in the direction of the force the field applies. With negative mass, the particle will move opposite the force and will thus do work on the field. The field will gain energy while the negative mass particle speeds up (gaining negative kinetic energy, if you will). This means that any light (which is an electromagnetic field) will be amplified in a very short distance to immensely destructive intensities while simultaneously evaporating the negative mass stuff into a plasma. This cascade of light amplification will be triggered even by quantum fluctuations of the vacuum, so even keeping it in complete darkness will not save you.

Luke