Can an arbitrarily taken area of space contain less than nothing? Common sense suggests that, of course, it cannot: if you remove all matter and all radiation from there, then there will remain an absolute vacuum. However, quantum physics refutes this notion. Any area can contain less than nothing, that is, the energy density in it acquires a negative value. Gravitation (or gravitation) is actually, according to Einstein's general theory of relativity, the distortion of space-time under the influence of normal (positive) energy (mass).
But if space-time is twisted under the influence of negative energy, then the consequences can be surprising: the formation of tunnels that shorten the distance between distant regions of the Universe, the "collapse" of space-time, the possibility of travel in the past.
According to quantum field theory, vacuum is the lowest energetic state of space-time, however, so-called virtual particles are constantly being born and immediately disappear in it. Consequently, the vacuum is never "absolute emptiness", although its total energy remains equal to zero. If we suppress the formation of virtual particles in a vacuum, then its energy will decrease below zero, that is, it will acquire a negative value. With this, of course, the total energy of the entire space will remain positive. "Suppression" of the vacuum creates negative energy in one area of space, but at the same time, positive energy grows in another area. For a clearer representation of the relationship between positive and negative energy, it is appropriate to use the "financial" analogy. We will assume that borrowed moneythis is negative money that must be returned.
But the debt is accepted to return with percentage. This means that it will take more to return than borrowed. Negative energy is not pure fantasy. The reality of its existence is confirmed by the theory of black holes. The same concept allows us to assume the possibility of the formation of "wormholes" - tunnels, "shortly" connecting different areas of space-time. Under certain conditions, a spacecraft could enter a tunnel on Earth and almost instantly leave it, for example, in the Andromeda Nebula! The distortion of space-time, achieved by negative energy, would allow the movement of material bodies with speeds greater than the speed of light!
In 1994, Miguel Alcubier Moya from the University of Wales found a solution to the equations of the theory of relativity, confirming this possibility. Moreover, the "roll-up" of space-time with the ship inside it should move at such a mind-blowing speed. The ship, on the other hand, will appear to the members of its crew completely motionless. As the superluminal speed increases, it will seem to the crew that the stars located ahead of the course are coming closer to each other, as if gathering into a tight "bunch", and acquire an ever more distinct blue color. The stars, located behind the ship, will also approach each other and intensely redden. A significant contribution to the development of the theory of such a motion was made by the St. Petersburg scientist, scientific collaborator of the Pulkovo Observatory S. V. Krasnikov.
If in the future it will be possible to create "wormholes", then, perhaps, time travel will become real. The speed of the flow of time is relative, it depends on the speed of movement of the observer. If the ship exceeds the speed of light, then its crew can return to Earth … before they left it! For the first time, the idea of a time machine based on the principle of a "wormhole" was proposed in 1988 by scientists from the California Institute of Technology Moppis, Thorne and Wirthswer.
Of course, all the "miracles" associated with the use of the negative energy of space are still the province of theory. But the fact of using these concepts in scientific works gives hope for the possibility in the future (albeit very distant) of the implementation of these "miracles" in practice.