Wormholes in fiction

A wormhole is a postulated method, within the general theory of relativity, of moving from one point in space to another without crossing the space between. Wormholes are a popular feature of science fiction as they allow faster-than-light interstellar travel within human timescales.

A related concept in various fictional genres is the portable hole. While there's no clear demarcation between the two, this article deals with fictional, but pseudo-scientific, treatments of faster-than-light travel through space.

A jumpgate is a fictional device able to create an Einstein–Rosen bridge portal (or wormhole), allowing fast travel between two points in space.

In franchises

Stargate franchise

Wormholes are the principal means of space travel in the Stargate movie and the spin-off television series, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe, to the point where it was called the franchise that is "far and away most identified with wormholes". The central plot device of the programs is an ancient transportation network consisting of the ring-shaped devices known as Stargates, which generate artificial wormholes that allow one-way matter transmission and two-way radio communication between gates when the correct spatial coordinates are "dialed".

Babylon 5 and Crusade

In television series Babylon 5 and its spin-off series Crusade, jump points are artificial wormholes that serve as entrances and exits to hyperspace, allowing for faster-than-light travel. Jump points can either be created by larger ships (battleships, destroyers, etc.) or by standalone jumpgates.

In the B5 universe, jumpgates are considered neutral territory. It is considered a violation of normal rules of engagement to attack them directly, as the jumpgate network is needed by every known spacefaring race. However, in wartime, it is common for powers to program their gates to deny access to opposing sides, thus forcing enemies to use their own jump points.

Farscape

The television series Farscape features an American astronaut who accidentally gets shot through a wormhole and ends up in a distant part of the universe, and also features the use of wormholes to reach other universes (or "unrealized realities") and as weapons of mass destruction.

Wormholes are the cause of John Crichton's presence in the far reaches of our galaxy and the focus of an arms race of different alien species attempting to obtain Crichton's perceived ability to control them. Crichton's brain was secretly implanted with knowledge of wormhole technology by one of the last members of an ancient alien species. Later, an alien interrogator discovers the existence of the hidden information and thus Crichton becomes embroiled in interstellar politics and warfare while being pursued by all sides (as they want the ability to use wormholes as weapons). Unable to directly access the information, Crichton is able to subconsciously foretell when and where wormholes will form and is able to safely travel through them (while all attempts by others are fatal). By the end of the series, he eventually works out some of the science and is able to create his own wormholes (and shows his pursuers the consequences of a wormhole weapon).

Star Trek franchise

Early in the storyline of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, an antimatter imbalance in the refitted Enterprise starship's warp drive power systems creates an unstable ship-generated wormhole directly ahead of the vessel, threatening to rip the starship apart partially through its increasingly severe time dilation effects, until Commander Pavel Chekov fires a photon torpedo to blast apart a sizable asteroid that was pulled in with the starship (and directly ahead of it), destabilizing the wormhole effect and throwing the Enterprise clear as it slowed to sub-light velocities. Near the end of the film, Willard Decker recalls that "Voyager 6" (a.k.a. V'ger) disappeared into what they used to call a "black hole". At one time, black holes in science fiction were often endowed with the traits of wormholes. This has for the most part disappeared as a black hole isn't a hole in space but a dense mass and the visible vortex effect often associated with black holes is merely the accretion disk of visible matter being drawn toward it. Decker's line is most likely to inform that it was probably a wormhole that Voyager 6 entered, although the intense gravity of a black hole does warp the fabric of spacetime.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, in episode "A Matter of Time", Captain Jean-Luc Picard acknowledged that since the first wormholes were discovered students had been asked questions about the ramifications of accidentally changing history for the worse through knowledge obtained by traveling through wormholes.

The setting of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a space station, Deep Space 9, located near the artificially-created Bajoran wormhole. This wormhole is unique in the Star Trek universe because of its stability. In an earlier episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation it was established that wormholes are generally unstable on one or both ends – either the end(s) move erratically or they do not open reliably. The Bajoran wormhole is stationary on both ends and opens consistently, bridging the Alpha and Gamma quadrants and enabling starship travel across vast distances. It serves as a strategic gateway that introduces the Alpha quadrant to the threatening Dominion and provides one method of communication with the non-physical entities, known as the Prophets, who inhabit it. Discovered at the start of the series, the existence of the wormhole and the various consequences of its discovery elevate the strategic importance of the space station and is a major factor in most of the overarching plots over the course of the series.

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Counterpoint", an alien scientist explains that the term wormhole is often used as a layman's term and describes various spatial anomalies. Examples for those wormholes in Star Trek are intermittent cyclical vortex, interspatial fissure, interspatial flexure or spatial flexure in episode "Q2" respectively spatial vortex in episode "Night". In the episode "Inside Man" an artificially created wormhole was named geodesic fold.

In the 2009 Star Trek film, red matter is used to create artificial black holes. A large one acts a conduit between spacetime and sends Spock and Nero back in time.

Doctor Who

The Rift which appears in the long-running British science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood is a wormhole. One of its mouths is located in Cardiff Bay, Wales and the other floats freely throughout space-time. It is the central plot device in the latter show.
In "Planet of the Dead", a wormhole transports a London double-decker bus to a barren, desert-like planet. The wormhole could only be navigated safely through by a metal object, and human tissue is not meant for inter-space travel, as demonstrated by the bus driver, who is burnt to the bones on attempting to get back to Earth.

It is discussed that the Time Vortex was created by the Time Lords (an ancient and powerful race of human-looking aliens that can control space and time; the protagonist is one of them) to allow travel of TARDISes (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) to any point in spacetime.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

In the 2011 film Thor, the Bifrost is reimagined as an Einstein–Rosen Bridge which is operated by the gatekeeper, Heimdall, and used by Asgardians to travel between the Nine Realms.
In the 2012 film The Avengers, Loki uses the Tesseract to arrive on Earth and summon the Chitauri to invade New York.
In the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World, the Bifrost Bridge is repaired using the Tesseract, and is once again used by Asgardians for space travel. Additionally, Jane Foster and her associates encounter a wormhole in London which teleports her to Svartalfheim.
In the 2017 film Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is teleported to the planet Sakaar via a wormhole, where he learns that Bruce Banner and Loki had both landed on the planet via wormholes as well. The largest one, referred to as the "Devil's Anus", is described by Banner as "a collapsing Neutron Star within an Einstein-Rosen Bridge".
In the 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos acquires the Space Stone from the Statesman and uses it to generate wormholes and travel between different points of the Universe.

In literature

In some earlier analyses of general relativity, the event horizon of a black hole was believed to form an Einstein-Rosen bridge.

Wormholes in fiction

In franchises

Stargate franchise

Babylon 5 and Crusade

Farscape

Star Trek franchise

Doctor Who

Marvel Cinematic Universe

In literature

In music

In games

In television and film fiction

See also

References

Further reading