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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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How Traversable Is a Traversable Wormhole?

Wormholes are one of the most interesting ideas in modern physics. People often imagine them as tunnels in space that connect two far-away places. In science fiction, they are used for instant travel across the universe.

But in real physics, things are much more complicated. Even if a wormhole exists, the big question is: can anything actually pass through it easily?

A recent scientific study by Freivogel, Fumagalli, and Tomasevic looked at this question in detail. They studied how different kinds of particles behave when they are sent through a theoretical traversable wormhole.

Their main result is surprising: wormhole traversability is not the same for everything. It depends on what you send through, how energetic it is, and even how long you wait.

Let’s understand this.

Can You Really Pass Through a Wormhole? Scientists Reveal the Shocking Truth

A Special Kind of Wormhole

The wormhole studied in this research comes from a theoretical model created by Maldacena, Milekhin, and Popov.

This wormhole is not science fiction. It is based on real physics ideas from:

  • Einstein’s theory of gravity

  • Quantum physics

  • Electromagnetism

In this model, each end of the wormhole looks like a type of black hole with magnetic charge. So if you see one end from far away, it may look just like a black hole. You may not easily know it is a wormhole.

This creates an important problem:
How can we tell if something is a black hole or a wormhole just by sending signals into it?

To answer this, scientists tested how different particles behave when sent toward the wormhole.

Different Particles Behave Differently

The study used two main types of particles:

  1. Scalar particles (simple energy fields, like basic waves)

  2. Fermions (particles like electrons, which follow quantum rules)

The key discovery is that these particles do not behave the same way inside a wormhole.

1. Scalar Particles: Mostly Blocked at First

When simple scalar particles are sent into the wormhole, the result is not smooth.

What happens at first?

At short times (right after sending the signal):

  • Most of the signal does NOT pass through

  • A large part is reflected back

  • Some of it gets trapped inside the wormhole

So at the beginning, the wormhole behaves almost like a wall or barrier.

What happens later?

After a long time:

  • The trapped signal slowly leaks out

  • Some comes back to the original side

  • Some goes through to the other side

Over a long time, the total amount that passes through becomes about half of what would pass through a black hole-like object

So scalar particles show a slow and delayed transmission.

Important Idea: Time Matters

One of the most important results is that wormhole behavior depends on time.

  • At short time → poor transmission

  • At long time → partial transmission

This means a wormhole is not simply “open” or “closed.” It changes how it behaves depending on how long you observe it.

Special Case: Resonance (Perfect Passing at Certain Frequencies)

Even though scalar particles mostly struggle to pass through, there is a surprising exception.

At some special frequencies:

  • The particle passes through perfectly

  • No reflection happens

  • Transmission becomes 100%

These are called resonant frequencies.

You can think of it like a swing:

  • If you push it at the right rhythm, it moves very easily

  • If you push at the wrong rhythm, it barely moves

So the wormhole allows certain “perfect tones” to pass through easily, while blocking others.

Real Signals Are Mixed: Wave Packets

In real life, signals are not single-frequency waves. They are a mix of many frequencies. These are called wave packets.

When scientists studied wave packets:

  • The sharp resonance effect gets spread out

  • Some energy still gets trapped in the wormhole

  • Over time, this energy leaks out slowly

An interesting result appears here:

At late times:

Only about half of the trapped signal returns to the original side

Why does this happen?

Because the trapped energy inside the wormhole has two choices:

  • Go back where it came from

  • Go out the other side

Both directions are equally likely, so only half comes back.

Charged Scalar Particles: Even Harder to Pass

If scalar particles have electric charge, things become even more restricted.

Now:

  • Magnetic effects inside the wormhole affect their movement

  • Fewer paths are allowed

  • Transmission becomes weaker

So charged scalar particles pass through even less easily than neutral ones.

2. Fermions: Surprisingly Easy Travelers

Now comes the most interesting result.

When scientists studied charged massless fermions (like ideal electrons in theory), they found something very different.

Result:

These particles pass through the wormhole with almost perfect probability.

This means:

  • They are NOT blocked

  • They are NOT trapped

  • They go through easily, even at low energy

In simple words:
Fermions are the best travelers through this wormhole.

Why Do Fermions Behave So Differently?

This happens because of a special quantum effect related to magnetic fields.

Inside the wormhole:

  • Strong magnetic fields exist

  • Fermions can enter a special lowest-energy state

  • This state acts like a direct pathway

So instead of being blocked, fermions find an “easy channel” through the wormhole.

Interestingly, the same effect also appears in:

  • Magnetic monopoles

  • Certain types of black holes

This shows that wormholes are deeply connected to other strange magnetic systems in physics.

Can We Tell a Wormhole from a Black Hole?

This is one of the most important questions.

From far away:

  • A wormhole mouth can look exactly like a black hole

So how can we tell the difference?

The answer lies in how particles behave:

Black hole:

  • Mostly absorbs everything

  • Simple behavior

Wormhole:

  • Delays signals

  • Stores energy temporarily

  • Shows resonances (special frequencies)

  • Sends part of the signal back after long time

So if we carefully study incoming and outgoing signals, we might detect a wormhole.

Big Picture: Wormholes Are Not Simple

This research shows that wormholes are not simple tunnels.

Instead, they behave like:

  • Filters

  • Delay systems

  • Quantum traps

  • Frequency selectors

Different particles experience them differently.

A “Hierarchy” of Traversability

We can rank particles by how easily they pass through:

1. Fermions (best travelers)

  • Pass through almost freely

2. Neutral scalars

  • Partially blocked

  • Delayed

  • Only partially transmitted over time

3. Charged scalars (worst travelers)

  • Strongly restricted

  • Least transmission

Final Conclusion

So, how traversable is a traversable wormhole?

The answer is:

👉 It depends.

A wormhole is not a simple door in space. It is a complex quantum structure that behaves differently depending on:

  • The type of particle

  • The energy of the signal

  • The frequency of the wave

  • The time you wait

Some particles struggle to pass through, some pass partially, and some pass almost freely.

In the end, this research tells us something very important:

Even if wormholes exist, nature controls very carefully what is allowed to travel through them.

Reference: Ben Freivogel, Alessandro Fumagalli, Marija TomaÅ¡ević, "How traversable is a traversable wormhole?", Arxiv, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12528


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