Senior Seminar Capstone Project

Project Statement

In order to answer my essential question, “How are theories of time travel made plausible by General Relativity’s concept of spacetime?” I wrote a conceptual guide to time travel that explains the core concepts of relativity, such as spacetime, reference frames, and time dilation, eventually building to theoretical wormholes as a means of interstellar travel. The guide is intended to be accessible and explain each topic thoroughly without requiring significant existing knowledge.

My essential question is a result of my desire for both an intellectually challenging and unique project topic. I have always been fascinated in learning about the universe, so I decided to hone my project on the theory of general relativity, which establishes how space and time bend around celestial objects like black holes.

At the beginning of my process, I intended to create a 3D model of a wormhole to display my research, but later on, I realized that the model would not adequately explain all of the physics involved. From this point onward, I decided that I would write a paper detailing theoretical time travel and the paradoxes associated with it. However, during my research, I grew less interested in the philosophical side and decided to have my paper focus solely on physics.

Rather than characterizing my product as a research paper, I have chosen to designate it as a guide. Firstly, its core motivation is to help readers understand time travel, and secondly, it does not contain original ideas, so it is not a true thesis or hypothesis-based paper.

For my research, I listened to podcasts, watched videos, and read papers about time travel. My guide compiles the topics from these sources into a coherent flow of ideas, and its progression should speak for itself as it gradually builds towards answering how theoretical time travel is supported by Einstein's theory of relativity.