When we think of black holes, we usually imagine huge cosmic monsters that swallow everything nearby — light, matter, even time itself. But what if a black hole could also give energy instead of only taking it?
This idea may sound strange, yet scientists have known for decades that spinning black holes can actually release enormous amounts of energy. The process behind this is called the Blandford–Znajek mechanism, named after the two astrophysicists who first explained it in 1977.
Now, new research shows something even more surprising: wormholes, those mysterious tunnels in space that could connect distant parts of the universe, might be able to do the same thing. Two researchers, Urtubey and Perez, have discovered that a rotating wormhole could also release energy through an effect similar to the Blandford–Znajek mechanism.
Their study not only deepens our understanding of how the universe works, but also opens up new possibilities for identifying wormholes — if they exist — through the energy they give off.
1. The Power Hidden in Spinning Black Holes
A black hole forms when a massive star collapses under its own gravity. Its gravity becomes so strong that nothing can escape from it once it crosses a certain invisible boundary called the event horizon. Beyond this horizon, even light cannot get out — which is why black holes appear “black.”
However, not all parts of a black hole are the same. Around a rotating black hole, space and time themselves are twisted by its spin. This region is called the ergosphere. Inside the ergosphere, everything — matter, light, and even magnetic fields — is forced to rotate along with the black hole.
This twisting motion is key to the Blandford–Znajek mechanism (often shortened as the BZ mechanism).
Here’s how it works in simple terms:
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Imagine a spinning black hole surrounded by a magnetic field.
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The spinning motion twists the magnetic field lines.
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These twisted fields generate electric currents and carry energy away in the form of electromagnetic waves — known as Poynting flux.
So, instead of sucking everything in, a rotating black hole can actually send energy out into space. This process is believed to power some of the brightest and most energetic events we see in the universe — like quasars and jets that shoot out of galaxies.
2. Why the Ergosphere Matters More Than the Event Horizon
At first, scientists thought that the event horizon — the point of no return — was necessary for the BZ mechanism to work. But over time, further studies showed that this wasn’t true.
What really matters is the ergosphere and the surrounding magnetosphere (the region filled with magnetic fields and charged particles). The ergosphere allows rotational energy to be transferred from the black hole to the magnetic field. The magnetosphere then carries that energy away as electromagnetic radiation.
This finding led researchers to a fascinating question:
If an ergosphere and a magnetosphere are enough, then could other spinning objects with these same features — like rotating wormholes — also release energy in this way?
3. What Are Wormholes, and How Are They Different?
A wormhole is a theoretical shortcut through space and time. You can think of it as a tunnel connecting two distant parts of the universe. The concept comes directly from Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which describes how gravity curves spacetime.
Unlike a black hole, a wormhole doesn’t have an event horizon. This means that, at least in theory, light and matter can pass through a wormhole and come out on the other side.
A wormhole has two “mouths” and a “throat” that connects them. Because of this, it doesn’t trap energy forever — it could, in principle, allow energy or radiation to move freely between regions.
Although wormholes have not been observed in real life, scientists study them through mathematics. Some theoretical models describe rotating wormholes, which behave in some ways like spinning black holes. One such model is known as the Damour–Solodukhin wormhole, a type of wormhole that looks almost identical to a black hole from the outside but lacks an event horizon.
This makes it a perfect object to test whether the Blandford–Znajek mechanism can also happen without a horizon.
4. The Work of Urtubey and Perez
Physicists Urtubey and Perez wanted to answer one main question:
Can a rotating wormhole release electromagnetic energy the same way a black hole does through the Blandford–Znajek mechanism?
In an earlier study, they suggested that the answer might be yes. They found that if a rotating wormhole is surrounded by magnetized gas (like an accretion disk), it could emit a Poynting flux — an outward flow of electromagnetic energy. Their results showed that the amount of energy released could be almost as large as that from a black hole.
However, their earlier model was based on assumptions about the shape and behavior of the magnetic field. They didn’t yet solve the full mathematical equations that describe how magnetic fields actually behave in curved spacetime.
In their new study, they took the next step: they solved Maxwell’s equations (the basic laws of electromagnetism) in the curved spacetime around a rotating wormhole. They worked in what’s called the force-free regime, which means they considered situations where the electromagnetic field is strong enough to dominate the motion of matter.
5. Solving the Stream Equation
To understand how the magnetic field behaves near the wormhole, the researchers used something called the stream equation. This equation describes how magnetic field lines are arranged and how they carry energy.
Urtubey and Perez used the Blandford–Znajek perturbative method, a mathematical approach where the solution is expanded step by step according to the rotation speed (called the spin parameter).
They calculated the solution up to the second order in spin — something that had never been done for a wormhole before.
At first order, the solution for the wormhole turned out to be exactly the same as for a Kerr black hole. This means that, when the spin is small, the magnetic field and the resulting energy flow look almost identical for both objects.
At second order, differences began to appear. The geometry of the wormhole caused the magnetic field lines to change shape slightly, which made the total energy output smaller.
6. What the Results Showed
Their findings can be summed up simply:
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Rotating wormholes can produce electromagnetic energy, similar to black holes.
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The energy flow (Poynting flux) is weaker in a wormhole than in a black hole with the same spin.
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The bigger the difference between the wormhole and a true black hole, the weaker the energy output becomes.
In short, wormholes can mimic black holes, but not perfectly. Still, the fact that the flux remains of the same order of magnitude is remarkable — it means that the process is physically possible and strong enough to be meaningful in astrophysical terms.
7. Visualizing the Magnetic Field Around a Wormhole
The researchers also created visualizations of how the magnetic field looks near the wormhole’s throat. These images show that:
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Near the equator of the wormhole, the toroidal component (the magnetic field that circles around the rotation axis) is strongest.
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Near the poles, the poloidal component (the field that stretches from top to bottom) becomes more important.
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Even so, the field lines twist around the axis everywhere, showing the strong influence of rotation.
Interestingly, because a wormhole does not have an event horizon, some of these magnetic field lines could actually pass through the throat and appear on the other side. This is something impossible in a black hole, and it could have unique effects on how energy and particles behave.
Future research might explore whether this could lead to observable differences between black holes and wormholes — for example, in the shape or direction of the jets that are emitted.
8. Comparing With Their Earlier Model
In their previous work, Urtubey and Perez had used a simpler magnetic field model known as Wald’s solution to estimate the energy output. The new, more accurate calculations allowed them to test how close that old model was to reality.
They found that their earlier estimates slightly overpredicted the energy from black holes and slightly underpredicted the energy from wormholes. But overall, the values were close — confirming that their earlier intuition was correct.
This result strengthens the idea that the Blandford–Znajek process can work even without an event horizon, as long as an ergosphere and a magnetosphere exist.
9. Why This Discovery Is Important
This discovery is exciting for several reasons:
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It challenges what we thought was unique to black holes.
The BZ mechanism was always associated with black holes, but this research shows it could also happen in other exotic cosmic objects. -
It gives us a new way to search for wormholes.
If a wormhole can release energy similar to a black hole, astronomers might be able to detect it by studying unusual energy jets or radiation that doesn’t quite match what we expect from black holes. -
It helps test our theories of gravity.
Studying rotating wormholes lets scientists explore the limits of Einstein’s general relativity and test new ideas from alternative theories of gravity. -
It could solve deeper mysteries.
Wormholes don’t have event horizons, which means they don’t trap information the way black holes do. Understanding energy extraction in such systems could help scientists explore questions like the black hole information paradox — one of the biggest puzzles in modern physics.
10. The Next Big Questions
Even though Urtubey and Perez achieved something groundbreaking, their study opens many new questions.
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What happens to the electromagnetic field on the other side of the wormhole’s throat?
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Does the energy continue through, or does it return in some way?
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Can energy or matter flow both ways through a wormhole?
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Could we, one day, distinguish a wormhole from a black hole just by studying its electromagnetic emissions?
To answer these, scientists will need to develop more advanced mathematical models that describe both sides of the wormhole smoothly. They will also need to use supercomputer simulations to see how magnetized matter behaves when it moves through a rotating wormhole.
11. Looking Ahead: Wormholes in Modified Theories of Gravity
In general relativity, stable wormholes usually require exotic matter — material that has negative energy density and doesn’t exist in ordinary physics. But in modified theories of gravity, wormholes can exist without exotic matter.
If the Blandford–Znajek process can also happen in those kinds of wormholes, then different theories of gravity could produce different types of energy outflows and magnetic field patterns. Comparing these could help scientists test which theory of gravity best describes our universe.
For instance:
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Some modified gravity models predict stronger or weaker magnetic fields.
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Others predict different shapes of ergospheres.
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These differences could change the appearance of the jets and radiation emitted.
Future telescopes — like the Event Horizon Telescope, which took the first image of a black hole — might one day be able to spot these differences and help confirm or rule out wormhole models.
12. A New Way to Think About Energy in the Universe
The idea that wormholes might act like cosmic power stations is both astonishing and inspiring. It suggests that the ability to extract rotational energy is not unique to black holes but could be a general property of spacetime itself — whenever rotation, magnetism, and curvature come together.
Even though wormholes remain theoretical, studies like this push our imagination and science forward. They help us ask deeper questions about how the universe works, how energy moves through it, and whether the boundaries between objects like black holes and wormholes are truly as sharp as we once thought.
13. Conclusion: The Universe Still Has Secrets
The work of Urtubey and Perez marks a major step in theoretical astrophysics. By solving complex equations and extending them to new geometries, they have shown that rotating wormholes can produce electromagnetic energy, just like black holes — though at a slightly weaker rate.
Their results remind us that there’s still so much to discover about the universe. Even the darkest regions of space, where gravity twists light and time, can reveal unexpected ways that energy is created and shared.
Perhaps one day, as our telescopes grow sharper and our theories stronger, we will find signs of these mysterious tunnels — not by traveling through them, but by detecting the light and energy they release across the cosmos.
Reference: Ertola Urtubey, M., Pérez, D. Magnetic field geometry in rotating wormhole spacetimes. Eur. Phys. J. C 85, 1178 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14919-y
Technical Terms
🌀 1. Black Hole
A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that nothing—not even light—can escape it.
It forms when a massive star collapses at the end of its life.
You can think of it like a cosmic “trap” that pulls everything in and doesn’t let anything out once it crosses a certain boundary.
🌍 2. Event Horizon
The event horizon is the invisible boundary around a black hole.
Once something crosses this line, it can never escape.
It’s like the edge of a waterfall — if you go past it, there’s no turning back.
🔄 3. Ergosphere
The ergosphere is a region around a spinning black hole, just outside the event horizon.
Here, space itself is dragged around by the black hole’s rotation (a phenomenon called frame dragging).
Objects in the ergosphere are forced to spin, but they can still escape — which makes it possible to extract energy from the black hole.
⚡ 4. Magnetosphere
The magnetosphere is the area around a celestial object (like a black hole or a planet) that’s filled with magnetic fields and charged particles.
Think of it as a “bubble” of magnetism that controls how energy and matter move around the object.
💡 5. Poynting Flux
The Poynting flux is the flow of electromagnetic energy (energy carried by electric and magnetic fields).
In simple words, it’s the stream of energy that moves through space when electromagnetic waves are created — for example, the power carried away by light, radio waves, or the magnetic jets from a black hole.
⚙️ 6. Blandford–Znajek Mechanism
The Blandford–Znajek (BZ) mechanism is a process that explains how a spinning black hole can release energy instead of just absorbing it.
It happens when the black hole’s rotation twists nearby magnetic fields, producing electric currents that send energy out into space.
This is how some black holes power jets that shoot out material at nearly the speed of light.
🌌 7. Wormhole
A wormhole is a theoretical tunnel in space that connects two distant points in the universe.
It’s like a shortcut — instead of traveling millions of light-years, you could (in theory) pass through the tunnel and arrive instantly somewhere else.
So far, wormholes are only ideas in physics; they haven’t been observed.
🕳️ 8. Wormhole Throat
The throat of a wormhole is the tunnel-like passage connecting its two openings, or “mouths.”
You can imagine it like the narrow part of an hourglass that links the top and bottom chambers.
💫 9. Kerr Black Hole
A Kerr black hole is a rotating black hole — one that spins around an axis, like Earth or a spinning top.
This type of black hole has an ergosphere, and it’s the one used in most studies about energy extraction.
🧲 10. Magnetic Field Lines
These are invisible lines that show the direction and strength of a magnetic field.
When an object spins inside a magnetic field (like a black hole or a wormhole), it can twist these lines, creating electric currents and energy flows.
🧮 11. Maxwell’s Equations
These are the four fundamental laws that describe how electricity and magnetism work and interact.
They explain how electric charges create electric fields, how moving charges (currents) create magnetic fields, and how these fields influence each other.
🌐 12. Force-Free Regime
This term describes a situation where electromagnetic forces dominate, and other forces (like pressure or gravity) can be ignored.
In this regime, the particles move mainly because of the magnetic and electric fields — this is common in regions near black holes and pulsars.
📈 13. Stream Equation
The stream equation is a mathematical formula used to describe how magnetic field lines are shaped and how they carry energy in a rotating, magnetized environment (like around a black hole or wormhole).
Solving it helps scientists understand where energy flows and how strong it is.
🌀 14. Toroidal Component
“Toroidal” means doughnut-shaped or around the axis.
The toroidal component of a magnetic field circles around the rotation axis — like rings around a spinning top.
It represents the twisting part of the field caused by rotation.
🧭 15. Poloidal Component
“Poloidal” means along the poles, or in a direction from the top to the bottom of the rotating object.
The poloidal component shows how magnetic field lines stretch between the north and south poles — like Earth’s magnetic field.
🔁 16. Frame Dragging
Frame dragging is a strange effect predicted by Einstein’s relativity.
When a massive object spins, it actually drags spacetime around with it.
In the ergosphere of a black hole, this means even light can’t stay still — it’s forced to rotate along with the black hole’s spin.
📊 17. Spin Parameter
The spin parameter measures how fast an object like a black hole or wormhole is rotating.
It can range from 0 (not spinning) to 1 (spinning at the fastest possible rate allowed by physics).
🧠 18. Perturbative Approach
This is a mathematical method used when a problem is too complex to solve exactly.
Scientists start with a simple version of the problem and then add small corrections step by step (like layers) to get a more accurate result.
In this case, the spin was treated as a “small” effect added to the basic non-spinning solution.
⚡ 19. Electromagnetic Jet
An electromagnetic jet is a powerful stream of energy and particles ejected from around a black hole or other compact object.
These jets can travel for millions of light-years and are powered by mechanisms like Blandford–Znajek.
🧲 20. Magnetic Flux
Magnetic flux is a measure of how much magnetic field passes through a surface.
In this context, it represents the amount of electromagnetic energy that flows away from the rotating object.
🧩 21. Damour–Solodukhin Wormhole
This is a theoretical model of a rotating wormhole that looks almost identical to a Kerr black hole from the outside but doesn’t have an event horizon.
Scientists use it to study how wormholes might behave if they existed in the real universe.
🧮 22. Second-Order Solution
When scientists calculate something in steps (first order, second order, etc.), each “order” adds more detail.
A second-order solution includes smaller, more precise effects — like fine-tuning a rough sketch into a detailed drawing.
🧠 23. General Relativity
General relativity is Einstein’s theory of gravity.
It says that gravity isn’t just a force — it’s the curving of spacetime caused by mass and energy.
Objects move along these curves, which is why planets orbit stars and light bends near massive objects.
🔬 24. Modified Theories of Gravity
These are alternative versions of Einstein’s theory, created to explain things general relativity can’t fully describe (like dark matter or cosmic expansion).
Some of these theories allow stable wormholes to exist without needing exotic, “negative-energy” matter.
💥 25. Exotic Matter
Exotic matter is hypothetical material that has negative energy density — meaning it behaves opposite to normal matter.
It could keep a wormhole open, but it’s never been observed in nature.
🧿 26. Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei
These are extremely bright and energetic regions found in the centers of some galaxies.
They’re powered by supermassive black holes that release energy through mechanisms like Blandford–Znajek, shooting out massive jets of light and particles.
💫 27. Energy Extraction
In this context, energy extraction means taking rotational energy from a spinning black hole or wormhole and converting it into electromagnetic radiation that escapes into space.
It’s like tapping into the spin of a cosmic engine to generate power.
🔭 28. Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
The Event Horizon Telescope is a global network of telescopes that work together to take detailed images of black holes.
It gave us the first-ever picture of a black hole in 2019 (the black hole in galaxy M87).
🧠 29. Black Hole Information Paradox
This is a famous puzzle in physics.
If nothing can escape a black hole, what happens to the information about the matter that falls in?
Quantum theory says information can’t be destroyed — but general relativity says it disappears behind the event horizon.
Wormholes might offer a clue to solving this mystery.
🌌 30. Jet Morphology
“Morphology” means shape or structure.
So, jet morphology refers to the shape, direction, and pattern of the energy jets produced by black holes or wormholes.
Different geometries can lead to different jet appearances — something astronomers could use to tell them apart.
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