Island is a finite region of space hidden inside the event horizons of a rotating black-hole by Edson Minatti

The Whole Truth about the Island: The Island is a finite region of space hidden inside the event horizons or singularities of a rotating Black-Hole.

Key-words: Kerr metric, black holes, Chronology Protection Agency, closed timelike curve (CTC), Casimir effect, Exotic matter


###### Facts already revealed in previous episodes: ######

a) The Island is on a huge pocket of Exotic Matter

b) Dharma carried out experiments using the Casimir Effect and Vacuum energy

c) In the Lost episode "The Constant," a blackboard belonging to Faraday contains the phrase "Kerr might work! Can it evade Hawking's chronology protection conjecture?"

d) Dharma was exploring time travels within the Island.

e) There is a space shortcut from the Island to Tunisian Desert (LOST Season 4 Episode 9 "The Shape of Things to Come", Ben arrived 10 months later than this departure)

f) Actual Time is experienced differently for People in the Island and outsiders observers.


Now, the final theory:

###### Scientific Background: ######

The Island is, in fact, the ergosphere of a very exotic system: a rotating black-hole. The only thing able to escape such immense gravity forces is the exotic matter, since it has negative mass. Dharma knew and studied the exotic matter. However, the flow of this type of matter has strong consequences, such as the Casimir Effect and the occurrence of space wormholes.
Exotic matter with negative energy density is required to stabilize a wormhole. Quantum mechanics of the Casimir effect can be used to produce a locally mass-negative region of space-time and suggest that negative effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel.

One wormhole we already saw twice is the connection Island ->Tunisian desert.
Other consequence of a rotating black-hole is the Kerr Vaccum (or Kerr Metric) – something Faraday knew. The Kerr vacuum exhibits many noteworthy features: the maximal analytic extension includes a sequence of exterior regions, each associated with an ergosphere, stationary limit surfaces, event horizons, Cauchy horizons, closed timelike curves (CTC). It means that the rotating black-hole is able to create several ergospheres with CTC and Cauchy horizons.

A closed timelike curve can be created if a series of light cones are set up so as to loop back on themselves, so it would be possible for an object to move around this loop and return to the same place and time that it started. An object in such an orbit would repeatedly return to the same point in spacetime if it stays in free fall. Returning to the original spacetime location would be only one possibility; the object's future light cone would include spacetime points both forwards and backwards in time, and so it should be possible for the object to engage in time travel under these conditions.

Jacob and MIB discussed, at the beach, the existence of a CTC in the Island and its fate: it always end up at the same way (or same point at the spacetime).

In a 1992 paper, Hawking uses the metaphorical device of a "Chronology Protection Agency" (CPA) as a personification of the aspects of physics which make time travel impossible at macroscopic scales, thus apparently preventing time paradoxes. He says:

“ It seems that there is a CPA which prevents the appearance of CTC and so makes the universe safe for historians.”

The idea of the Chronology Protection Agency appears to be drawn playfully from the Time Patrol or Time Police concept present in works of science fiction such as Isaac Asimov's novel The End of Eternity.

It´s possible to arrange a collection of adjacent workholes in a configuration know as Roman Ring and this is a way to avoid CPA. In other words, time-travel like experiences are only allowed at rotating black-holes ergospheres, at their Cauchy horizons, where such wormholes can be created.

Finally, the Quantum Mechanics predict the possibility of parallel universes (multi-verse theory). However, usually the collapse of the wave functions will lead to only one most probable universe.

###### The Experience of Lost People: ######

The Island is a finite region of space hidden inside the event horizons or singularities of a oscilanting Black-Hole. Singularities that arise in the solutions of Einstein's equations are typically hidden within event horizons, and therefore cannot be seen from the rest of spacetime. Thus, the Island cannot be seen from the rest of the Universe.

When the Oceanic Flight 815 left Australia it crossed the horizon event of the rotating black hole and the their fate was split in two universes: in the first (U1), the plane crashed in the Island and entered in the Kerr Vaccum and, therefore, in a CTC. From that point, their experience with time was altered since they started to suffer the effects of Roman Rings in multiple CTC. That´s the reason of the frequent spacetime jumps within the ergosphere of the Island.

The second universe, U2, is the one where the plane safely lands on LAX. This is the universe which will prevail, where the quantum wave functions will collapse.

What he have seen so far in Universe U1 is the work of the Cosmic censorship CPA trying to get rid of all paradoxes in order to have a possible coalescence onto universe U2. That is the reason for the ocean six go back to the Island: they had to reenter CPA in order to create the causality for the existence and stability of universe U2.
The coalescence into U2 means the end of U1: Desmond's pushing the button to forestall the end of the world and the DHARMA Initiative's goal to alter the parameters of the Valenzetti Equation and prevent the end of humanity is, in fact, an approach to avoid the vanishing of the universe U1.



###### Jacob / Men in Black ######

The antagonic characteristics of Jacob / MIB are well described in the show by exoteric or religious approaches such as themis/nemesis (greek mythology). The MIB is also draw as Cerberus, a greek hound which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping.

In terms of science, MIB/Monster can be seen as the Cosmic censorship to avoid paradoxes, therefore destroying the worldlines CPA created in the Cauchy horizon of the rotating black hole. We can assume that the monster is made from antimatter, able to annihilate ordinary matter upon interaction. His goal is to head to the Temple – a place where it can go to the world external to the Cauchy horizon of the rotating black hole.


Jacob, on the other hand, is willing to have multiples CPA and to evolve multiple versions of universe U1. He succeeds doing that by changing the worldline of the CPA and fooling MIB. The only way for MIB avoid this is to kill Jacob and, therefore, finish the CPA.


That´s it… "Whatever Happened, Happened" and "Dead Is Dead"