A new quantum experiment allows scientists to study the dynamics of wormholes, theoretical space-time entities that first A emerged from general relativity. Rather than creating an actual wormhole, a rip in time and space that’s theorised to form a bridge between one distant region of space and another, the team built a wormhole model to run on a quantum processor. This allowed them to investigate the physics of wormholes and their potential connection to so-called ‘quantum gravity.’
“We found a quantum system that exhibits key properties of a gravitational wormhole yet is sufficiently small to implement on today’s quantum hardware,” Quantum Communication Channels for Fundamental Physics (QCCFP) principal investigator Maria Spiropulu said. “This work constitutes a step towards a larger program of testing quantum gravity physics using a quantum computer.” Samantha Davis, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, said that it took “a really long time to arrive at the results”. The team was surprised by the outcome, which suggests that wormhole-like behaviour can be explained from the perspective of both quantum physics and general relativity. Spiropulu added that while this new model doesn’t substitute for direct probes of quantum gravity, it does offer a powerful way to investigate ideas of quantum gravity in the lab.