Physicist Qi Lai and team propose GW190521 gravitational wave may be wormhole echo
Updated
Updated · The Brighter Side of News · Apr 25
Physicist Qi Lai and team propose GW190521 gravitational wave may be wormhole echo
5 articles · Updated · The Brighter Side of News · Apr 25
Their new analysis models GW190521 as a single gravitational-wave echo from a wormhole created after two black holes merged in another universe, using LIGO and Virgo data from May 2019.
While the wormhole model fits some features of the brief, anomalous signal, Bayesian comparison still favors the standard black hole merger explanation, though the alternative remains plausible and worth further testing.
GW190521’s lack of a clear inspiral phase continues to challenge astrophysical models, fueling debate and prompting calls for improved waveform templates and more sensitive detectors to distinguish exotic phenomena in future gravitational-wave events.
Black hole collision or wormhole echo: which theory explains the universe’s strangest signal?
What future gravitational wave detection could finally prove or disprove the existence of wormholes?
If not wormholes, how are 'forbidden' mass black holes forming throughout the cosmos?
Did a signal from another universe just pass through a wormhole into ours?
Could a collision of dark matter 'boson stars' explain this mystery better than black holes?
When data defies theory, should scientists favor complex known physics or embrace exotic new ideas?
Wormhole Echoes vs. Black Hole Mergers: Bayesian Analysis of GW190521 and GW231123 Signals
Overview
The gravitational wave event GW190521, detected in May 2019, featured an unusually brief signal from merging black holes with masses in a theoretically forbidden range. In 2025, physicist Qi Lai and colleagues proposed a radical idea that this signal might be a wormhole echo—ringdown vibrations from a black hole merger in another universe transmitted through a cosmic wormhole. Although their model produced a signal strength comparable to the standard black hole merger explanation, Bayesian analysis favored the conventional interpretation. However, a similar event in 2023, GW231123, showed moderate support for the wormhole echo model, highlighting the need for improved waveform modeling and more sensitive future detectors to explore these exotic possibilities.