Red matter

Red matter is an exotic substance that appears in the 2009 Star Trek movie.

Red matter is an artificial material created by the Vulcan Science Academy in the 2380's. Manufacturing red matter requires an extremely rare mineral called "decalithium".

When activated, red matter creates a black hole (or something vaguely similar to one), which then consumes any nearby matter to increase its mass. A tiny volume of red matter is sufficient to start the process. For unknown reasons, the black holes created by red matter can function as wormholes through which a ship can travel through time and space.

The exact conditions for activating red matter aren't clear, although a matter-antimatter explosion such as that of a warp core breach or photon torpedo detonation appears to be sufficient.