(单词翻译:单击)
Okay, let me get this out of the way: white holes are almost definitely not a real thing that can be found in nature.
我先说一句话:在自然界中,白洞几乎可以肯定是不存在的 。
So keep that in mind when I say...we might have seen one?
所以当我说我们可能见过白洞时,记得这句话 。
In theory, white holes are black holes that are going backwards. In theory.
理论上,白洞是黑洞的反演,理论上是这样 。
A black hole, as you know, is a giant object that sucks stuff in to a singularity,
你知道,黑洞是个把物质吸进奇点的巨大天体,
a single point of infinite density, from which there is no escape.
奇点是一个密度无限的单点,没有物质能从中逃出来 。
So a white hole would be an object that expels matter from a singularity...and you'd never be able to enter it.
所以,白洞可能是从奇点排出物质的天体,你进不去 。
White holes only exist in math.
白洞仅存在于数学中 。
But in 2006, we saw an explosion of light out in deep space that we can't explain any other way.
但在2006年,我们看到了太空深处的光爆,无法用其他方法解释这一现象 。
It's...even weirder than it sounds.
事实似乎比听说更加奇怪 。
In reality, a white hole would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
在现实中,白洞会违反热力学第二定律 。
This says that the amount of entropy in the universe can only stay the same or increase. It can never decrease.
这一定律说宇宙中的熵值只能保持不变或增加,不能减少 。
Entropy is often described as disorder,
熵常被描述为无序状态,
but it's more like a measure of how many different states that particles in a system can be in at any given moment.
但它更像是对一个系统中的粒子在任意时刻有多少种不同状态的测量 。
Like, if you have a piano, and you throw it in a woodchipper, you've increased the entropy of the piano.
就像,如果你有一架钢琴,然后把它扔进了一个木片切削机,这样你就增加了钢琴的熵 。
Because a pile of chopped-up piano splinters can be in lots and lots of different configurations while still being...a pile of splinters.
因为一堆钢琴碎片可以有很多不同的组合,尽管它仍是一堆碎片 。
But these piano splinters can really only be in one, very specific state in order to be a piano. At least ... a piano that works.
但这些钢琴碎片要想组装成一架钢琴,一架至少能用的钢琴,就只有一种非常明确的状态了 。
So, black holes are great at increasing entropy!
所以,黑洞非常善于增加熵 。
They're the universe's woodchippers: shredding entire stars into pulp, and leaving only a whiff of radiation.
它们是宇宙的木片切削机:把整颗星星切碎,只留下一点儿辐射 。
But you can't load your pile of piano splinters into the woodchipper, and run the thing backwards to get a piano again.
但你不能把钢琴碎片加载到木片切削机后,再反向生产出一架钢琴 。
That would decrease entropy, which is not allowed.
这只会减少熵,是不被允许的 。
And if white holes existed, that's essentially what they'd do.
如果白洞存在,它们就会这么做 。
So why does anyone think white holes might exist in the first place?
那么,为什么起初有人认为会存在白洞呢?
Well, they were first proposed as a kind of mathematical oddity, because of Einstein's theories of relativity.
因为爱因斯坦的相对论,它们最初被认为是数学上奇怪的现象 。
One of the many endearing quirks of relativity is that it doesn't care whether you play time backward or forward.
相对论有许多奇怪的地方,其中之一是它不在乎时间的前进和倒退 。
If time can go in one direction, it can just as easily go in the other.
如果时间可以朝一个方向走,那么它也可以轻易地走向另一个方向 。
So if black holes are a thing, then white holes, which are black holes played backward, can also be a thing.
所以如果黑洞是一个东西,那么白洞,作为黑洞的反演,也可以是一样东西 。
But just because relativity says time can go in both directions, in practice it pretty much sticks to one, as we all know.
但由于相对论说时间是双向的,而实际就我们所知,它是单向的 。
So even if a white hole did somehow occur, it would be incredibly unstable.
所以即使出现了白洞,它也会非常不稳定 。
Because the universe DOES NOT LIKE IT when you break the laws of physics!
因为宇宙不喜欢你违反物理定律!
So a real white hole would probably only last for a few seconds before it collapsed in on itself to become a black hole,
所以一个真正的白洞可能只会持续几秒钟,然后它就会坍缩成一个黑洞,
which brings us back to the explosion we saw in 2006.
这又使我们回到了2006年的爆炸事件 。
Detected by NASA's Swift satellite on June 14, it was a huge gamma ray burst,
宇航局的“Swift”卫星于6月14日探测到,此次是一个巨大的伽马射线爆炸,
the highest-energy type of explosion possible, a million trillion times more energetic than the sun.
它可能是最高能量类型的爆炸,它的能量比太阳大一百万亿倍 。
And it lasted for…102 seconds.
它持续了102秒 。
Scientists believe that gamma ray bursts only last that long during supernovas.
科学家们认为,伽马射线爆炸只在超新星爆炸中持续那么长的时间 。
But this one, labeled GRB 060614, didn't have a supernova to go with it.
但此次名为GRB 060614的爆炸中没有超新星参与 。
As far as we can tell, it was an explosion of white hot light that came from nowhere, and then vanished.
就我们所知,这场爆炸的白热光没有来处,随后就消失了 。
And while white holes remain incredibly, stupendously, ridiculously, unlikely...
虽然白洞是令人难以置信的、惊人的、荒谬的、不太可能的,
that's pretty much exactly what we think one would look like.
但它完全就是我们认为的样子 。
Some physicists have offered other explanations for what it might've been,
一些物理学家还给出了其他可能的解释,
like a shock wave from neutron star torn apart by a black hole, or maybe two neutron stars colliding.
如,被黑洞撕裂的中子星或两颗中子星碰撞发出的冲击波 。
But events like these only release energy for two seconds at most, not a minute and a half.
但此类事件释放能量的时间最多是两秒钟,不可能是一分半 。
So, white holes in nature are as impossible as a thing can be, while still being technically possible.
所以,自然界中的白洞是不可能存在的,但理论上是可能存在的 。
But they are technically possible.
但也只是理论上可能而已 。
And until we see another explosion like the one in 2006 that we could hopefully learn more from, we'll just have to wait and wonder.
除非我们能看到另一场像2006年那样的爆炸,才有希望了解更多,我们只能等待了 。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space!
感谢你收看本期的太空科学秀!
And thanks to all of our Subbable subscribers who make this channel possible!
也感谢“Subbable”用户对本节目的大力支持!
If you'd like to support us and score some cool gear, go to subbable.com/scishow to learn more.
如果你想支持我们,获得一些不错的装备,请登录subbable.com/scishow了解更多内容 。
And if you have questions or ideas for an episode you'd like to see,
如果你对喜欢看的节目有什么疑问或想法,
you can find us on Facebook and Twitter and in the comments below,
请在我们的脸书或推特下方留言,
and if you want to keep getting smarter with us, just go to YouTube.com/scishowspace and subscribe!
如果你想继续和我们一起变聪明,就请登录 YouTube.com/scishowspace,点击订阅吧!