Quinn Mallory, a California University physics graduate student specializing in string theory, creates a device capable of opening vortices to alternate universes. With a little help from his double from another universe, he develops the sliding technology to the extent that not only can he send items through the gateway he created, but also, with the use of a handheld Timer, to return them to their point of origin. He uses himself as his first living "guinea pig."
Sliding Machine[]
The sliding machine created by Quinn Mallory was an attempt to generate antigravity. But the machine is capable of generating an Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge, a wormhole connecting one dimension from another. People and objects can pass through this gateway from one parallel dimension to the next. The sliding machine creates an electrical field, concentrated on two points; the location of the Slider and the corresponding point in a parallel universe. This field is so strong that it literally rips a hole in the fabric of space, connecting the two universes by a tunnel, called a "wormhole." The sliding machine then lines the wormhole with exotic matter, a form of matter that can support the incredible pressure it's under. In this way, the wormhole is shaped into a tunnel that people or objects can pass through. Once the journey is complete, the sliding machine removes the exotic matter, shuts off the electrical field, and the Bridge collapses.
Travel into the new dimension does not always change their relative position in time or space. If they slide at 3 a.m. Monday morning near a tree in Golden Gate Park, they should appear in their new dimension at the same relative place and time on the new world. This is not a guarantee.
Einstein-Rosen bridge[]
The Einstein-Rosen Bridge (more commonly known as the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge or ERP) is a tunnel connecting two universes. It was developed by physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. They came up with the idea that if an object had strong enough gravity, it could warp space, creating a tear that would link parallel universes. The only known object in the universe with that kind of force is a black hole. Anyone who could enter the black hole would find an opening or "wormhole" that would take them to another universe. That's the Einstein-Rosen Bridge.
The problem with the Bridge is that the same force that warps space would crush anyone who tried to enter the black hole. Until recently, it was believed that no one could do it. But in 1963, mathematician Roy Kerr came up with a way that someone could approach the black hole, avoiding the force, to enter the wormhole. Quinn Mallory succeeded in the final step, creating a Bridge that allows people and objects to safely enter a wormhole to cross into another universe.
In episodes where there are other Sliders, their Wormholes are almost always red. This was never explained in the series.
Season 1 Portal[]
Season 2 Portal[]
Season 3 Portal[]
Season 4 and 5 Portal[]
