36 pages, 35 figures. Updated version contains some stylistic improvements and added comments. Some typographical errors corrected. More references added. Matches version accepted for publication in Gen.Rel.Grav
We study the existence and properties of wormhole throats in modified $f(R)$ gravity theory. Specifically, we concentrate on the cases where the lapse is not necessarily constant, and hence are not limited to the zero tidal force scenarios. In the class of theories whose actions are generated by Lagrangians of the form $f(R)=\sum α_{n}\,R^{n}$ we find parameters which allow for the existence of energy condition respecting throats, which do not exist in Einstein gravity. We also consider the effect of the modified action on the anisotropy of the models, and find that modified gravity can minimize the amount of anisotropy required to support the existence of a throat. In both these respects, the sector containing theories with positive $n$ is more promising than the negative $n$ sector in comparison to Einstein gravity alone, with large $n$ being most favorable
We present a new definition of the wormhole throat including the flare-out condition and the traversability for general dynamical spacetimes in terms of null geodesic congruences. We will examine our definition for some examples and see advantages compared to the others.
The self-force of the electromagnetic charge in the space-time of a wormhole with an infinitely short throat is calculated. It is assumed that the charge is a source of an electromagnetic field that is in non-minimal connection with the curvature of space-time.
We consider wormhole geometries subject to a gravitational action consisting of non-linear powers of the Ricci scalar. Specifically, wormhole throats are studied in the case where Einstein gravity is supplemented with a Ricci-squared and inverse Ricci term. In this modified theory it is found that static wormhole throats respecting the weak energy condition can exist. The analysis is done locally in the vicinity of the throat, which eliminates certain restrictions on the models introduced by considering the global topology.
We consider the total energy loss and spectral density of uniformly moving electrically charged particles in the spacetime of a wormhole with an infinitely short throat. We show that the total energy loss $\mathcal{E} \sim e^2vγa^2/b^3$, where $γ$ is relativistic factor, $a$ is the radius of the wormhole's throat and $b$ is the impact factor. The spectrum of the energy for particles radially moving through the wormhole's throat $\mathcal{E} \sim e^2vγ/a$. The spectral density of the total energy has a maximum at frequency $ω_m \sim vγ/b$ and at $ω_m \sim vγ/a$ for radial motion.
The structure of the effective potential $V$ describing causal geodesics near the throat of an arbitrary spherical wormhole is analyzed. Einstein's equations relative to a set of regular coordinates covering a vicinity of the throat imply that any spherical wormhole can be constructed from solutions of an effective initial value problem with the throat serving as an initial value surface. The initial data involve matter variables, the area A(0) of the throat and the gradient $Λ(0)$ of the red shift factor on the throat. Whenever $Λ(0)=0$, the effective potential $V$ has a critical point on the…
Recently we have shown that for $2+1-$dimensional thin-shell wormholes a non-circular throat may lead to a physical wormhole in the sense that the energy conditions are satisfied. By the same token, herein we consider angular dependent throat geometry embedded in a $2+1-$dimensional flat spacetime in polar coordinates. It is shown that a generic, natural example of throat geometry is provided remarkably by a hypocycloid. That is, two flat $2+1-$dimensions are glued together along a hypocycloid. The energy required in each hypocycloid increases with the frequency of the roller circle inside the…
We calculate the Casimir energy-momentum tensor induced in a scalar field by a macroscopic ultrastatic spherically-symmetric long-throated traversable wormhole, and examine whether this exotic matter is sufficient to stabilise the wormhole itself. The Casimir energy-momentum tensor is obtained (within the $\mathbb{R}\times S_2$ throat) by a mode sum approach, using a sharp energy cut-off and the Abel-Plana formula; Lorentz invariance is then restored by use of a Pauli-Villars regulator. The massless conformally-coupled case is found to have a logarithmic divergence (which we renormalise) and a…
Wormholes and black holes have traditionally been treated a quite separate objects with relatively little overlap. The possibility of a connection arises in that wormholes, if they exist, might have profound influence on black holes, their event horizons, and their internal structure. After discussing some connections, we embark on an overview of what can generally be said about traversable wormhole throats. We discuss the violations of the energy conditions that typically occur at and near the throat of any traversable wormhole and emphasize the generic nature of this result. We discuss the o…
Adapting and extending a suggestion due to Page, we define a wormhole throat to be a marginally anti-trapped surface, that is, a closed two-dimensional spatial hypersurface such that one of the two future-directed null geodesic congruences orthogonal to it is just beginning to diverge. Typically a dynamic wormhole will possess two such throats, corresponding to the two orthogonal null geodesic congruences, and these two throats will not coincide, (though they do coalesce into a single throat in the static limit). The divergence property of the null geodesics at the marginally anti-trapped surf…
We construct explicit examples of globally regular static, spherically symmetric solutions of general relativity with a phantom scalar field as the source of gravity, describing traversable wormholes with flat asymptotic regions on both sides of the throat as well as regular black holes, in particular, those called black universes. To explain why such phantom fields are not observed under usual conditions, we invoke the concept of "invisible ghosts," which means that the phantom field decays quickly enough at infinity and is there too weak to be observed. This approach leads to wormhole models…
We construct wormholes in Einstein-vector-Gauss-Bonnet theory where a real massless vector field is coupled to the higher curvature Gauss-Bonnet invariant. We consider three coupling functions which depend on the square of the vector field. The respective domains of existence of wormholes possess as their boundaries i) black holes, ii) solutions with a singular throat, iii) solutions with a degenerate throat and iv) solutions with cusp singularities. Depending on the coupling function wormhole solutions can feature a single throat or an equator surrounded by a double throat. The wormhole solut…
We consider a spherically symmetric line element which admits either a black hole geometry or a wormhole geometry and show that in both cases the apparent horizon or the wormhole throat is partially characterized by the zero-set of a single curvature invariant. The detection of the apparent horizon by this invariant is consistent with the geometric horizon detection conjectures and implies that it is a geometric horizon of the black hole, while the detection of the wormhole throat presents a conceptual problem for the conjectures. To distinguish between these surfaces, we determine a set of cu…
We present a polymer quantization of spherically symmetric Einstein gravity in which the polymerized variable is the area of the Einstein-Rosen wormhole throat. In the classical polymer theory, the singularity is replaced by a bounce at a radius that depends on the polymerization scale. In the polymer quantum theory, we show numerically that the area spectrum is evenly-spaced and in agreement with a Bohr-Sommerfeld semiclassical estimate, and this spectrum is not qualitatively sensitive to issues of factor ordering or boundary conditions except in the lowest few eigenvalues. In the limit of sm…
The present paper is intended for studying the effect of strong gravitational lensing in the context of charged wormhole. To study this effect, the conditions determining the existence of photon spheres at and outside the throat are obtained. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of photon spheres at or outside the throat of the charged wormhole is derived. Furthermore, photon spheres are investigated in three cases for three different forms of redshift function. These three cases include the existence of effective photon spheres (i) at the throat, (ii) outside the throat a…
We consider Lorentzian wormholes supported by a phantom field and threaded by non-trivial Yang-Mills fields, which may be regarded as hair on the Ellis wormhole. Like the Bartnik-McKinnon solutions and their associated hairy black holes, these hairy wormholes form infinite sequences, labeled by the node number $k$ of their gauge field function. We discuss the throat geometry of these wormholes, showing that odd-$k$ solutions may exhibit a double-throat, and evaluate their global charges. We analyze the limiting behavior exhibited by wormhole solutions as the gravitational coupling becomes larg…
In this work we study and compare the features of gravitational entropy near the throat of transversable wormholes formed by exotic matter and wormholes in galactic halos. We have verified that gravitational entropy and entropy density of these wormholes in regions near their throats are indistinguishable for objects of same throat, despite the fact they are described by different metrics and by distinct energy-momentum tensors. We have found that the gravitational entropy density diverges near the throat for both cases, probably due to a non-trivial topology at this point, however allowing th…
Using simplicial minisuperspace techniques we obtain a wormhole configuration, capable of modelling both a throat between two equal Euclidean and Lorentzian universes. Computing the wavefunction associated to such configuration we conclude that for Planck-size Euclidean wormholes there is a prediction of a finite non-vanishing radius of their throat, even in the absence of matter. The wavefunction associated to their Lorentzian counterparts predicts the growth of the wormhole's throat as the two Lorentzian universes expand.
We consider a topologically nontrivial thin-shell wormhole with a throat in the form of a $T^2$ torus. It is shown that: (i)~such a wormhole is stable with respect to excitations of the throat; (ii)~not all energy conditions are violated for such wormholes; (iii)~if any of the energy conditions is violated, this violation occurs only partially in some region near the throat, and in other regions the violation is absent. Also, we discuss the differences between spherical $S^2$ wormholes and toroidal $T^2$ wormholes under investigation.
We discuss the peculiarities of gravitational lensing by spherically symmetric wormholes if they are not symmetric with respect to their throats. It is noticed, in particular, that wormholes always contain the so-called photon spheres, near which the photon deflection angles can be arbitrarily large, but, in general, the throat is such a sphere only for symmetric wormholes. In some cases, photons from outside can cross the throat and return back from a neighborhood of a photon sphere if the latter is located beyond the throat. Two families of generally asymmetric wormhole configurations are co…
We extend previous proofs that violations of the null energy condition (NEC) are a generic and universal feature of traversable wormholes to completely non-symmetric time-dependent wormholes. We show that the analysis can be phrased purely in terms of local geometry at and near the wormhole throat, and do not have to make any technical assumptions about asymptotic flatness or other global properties. A key aspect of the analysis is the demonstration that time-dependent wormholes have two throats, one for each direction through the wormhole, and that the two throats coalesce only for the case o…
The self-energy and self-force for particles with electric and scalar charges at rest in the space-time of massless and massive wormholes are considered. The particle with electric charge is always attracted to wormhole throat for arbitrary profile of the throat. The self-force for scalar particle shows different behavior depending on the non-minimal coupling. The self-force for massive scalar field is localized close to the throat of the wormhole.
This brief review discusses the existence conditions of wormhole throats and wormholes as global configurations in general relativity under the assumptions of cylindrical and axial symmetries. It is pointed out, in particular, that wormhole throats can exist in static, cylindrically symmetric space-times under slightly different conditions as compared with spherical symmetry. In cylindrical space-time with rotation, throats can exist in the presence of ordinary matter or even in vacuum; however, there are substantial difficulties in obtaining asymptotically flat wormhole configurations without…
We reconsider the generalized flare-out conditions in static wormhole throats given by Hochberg and Visser. We show that due to the presence of matter sources on the throat, these conditions are not applicable to the thin-shell wormholes.
The vacuum polarization of the quantized scalar field with non-conformal coupling $ξ$ on the long throat of a wormhole background is calculated. It is shown that the stress-energy tensor of vacuum fluctuations in considered spacetime is determined by the local geometry of spacetime only. The self-consistent solutions of the semiclassical Einstein field equations describing a long throat of a traversable wormhole are obtained.
Using traversable wormholes as theoretical background, we revisit a deep question of general relativity: Does a uniformly accelerated charged particle radiate? We particularize to the recently proposed gravitational Čerenkov radiation, that happens when the spatial part of the Ricci tensor is negative. If $^{^{(3+1)}}R^i_{\phantom{i}i}< 0$, the matter threading the gravitational field violates the weak energy condition. In this case, the effective refractive index for light is bigger than 1, i.e. particles propagates, in that medium, faster than photons. This leads to a violation of the equiva…
We consider the self-energy and the self-force for an electrically charged particle at rest in the wormhole space-time. We develop general approach and apply it to two specific profiles of the wormhole throat with singular and with smooth curvature. The self-force for these two profiles is found in manifest form; it is an attractive force. We also find an expression for the self-force in the case of arbitrary symmetric throat profile. Far from the throat the self-force is always attractive.
We show that the cold horizon of the extremal Reissner-Nordström can be considered as the throat of a thin-shell wormhole with zero total exotic matter and positive angular pressure. Such a wormhole is physical and stable against radial perturbations provided an appropriate perfect fluid exists at the throat.
We revisit the shapes of the throats of wormholes, including thin-shell wormholes (TSWs) in $2+1-$dimensions. In particular, in the case of TSWs this is done in a flat $2+1-$dimensional bulk spacetime by using the standard method of cut-and-paste. Upon departing from a pure time-dependent circular shape i.e., $r=a\left( t\right) $ for the throat, we employ a $% θ-$dependent closed loop of the form $r=R\left( t,θ\right) ,$ and in terms of $R\left( t,θ\right) $ we find the surface energy density $σ$ on the throat. For the specific convex shapes we find that the total energy which supports the wo…
The thin-shell wormhole created using the Darmois-Israel formalism applied to Robinson-Trautman family of spacetimes is presented. The stress energy tensor created on the throat is interpreted in terms of two dust streams and it is shown that asymptotically this wormhole settles to the Schwarzschild wormhole with a throat located at the horizon position. This behavior shows a nonlinear stability (within the Robinson-Trautman class) of this spherically symmetric wormhole. The gravitational radiation emitted by the Robinson-Trautman wormhole during the transition to spherical symmetry is indisti…
Chaotic particle dynamics near a traversable wormhole throat
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics（南京航空航天大学）；MIIT Key Laboratory of Aerospace Information Materials and Physics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics（南京航空航天大学工业和信息化部航空航天信息材料与物理重点实验室）
A wormhole with a quantum throat on the basis of an approximate model of the spacetime foam is presented. An effective spinor field is introduced for the description of the spacetime foam. The consequences of such model of the wormhole is preventing a "naked'' singularity in the Reissner-Nordström solution with $|e|/m > 1$.
A phase space is built that allows to study, classify and compare easily large classes of static spherically symmetric wormholes solutions, sustained by an isotropic perfect fluid in General Relativity. We determine the possible locations of equilibrium points, throats and curvature singularities in this phase space. Throats locations show that the spatial variation of the gravitational redshift at the throat of a static spherically symmetric wormhole sustained by an isotropic perfect fluid is always diverging, generalising the result that there is no such wormhole with zero-tidal force. Sever…
We revisit to investigate shadows cast by Kerr-like wormholes. The boundary of the shadow is determined by unstable circular photon orbits. We find that, in certain parameter regions, the orbit is located at the throat of the Kerr-like wormhole, which was not considered in the literature. In these cases, the existence of the throat alters the shape of the shadow significantly, and makes it possible for us to differentiate it from that of a Kerr black hole.
It is shown that the existence of static, cylindrically symmetric wormholes does not require violation of the weak or null energy conditions near the throat, and cylindrically symmetric wormhole geometries can appear with less exotic sources than wormholes whose throats have a spherical topology. Examples of exact wormhole solutions are given with scalar, spinor and electromagnetic fields as sources, and these fields are not necessarily phantom. In particular, there are wormhole solutions for a massless, minimally coupled scalar field in the presence of a negative cosmological constant, and fo…
Traversable wormholes have traditionally been viewed as intrinsically topological entities in some multiply connected spacetime. Here, we show that topology is too limited a tool to accurately characterize a generic traversable wormhole: in general one needs geometric information to detect the presence of a wormhole, or more precisely to locate the wormhole throat. For an arbitrary static spacetime we shall define the wormhole throat in terms of a 2-dimensional constant-time hypersurface of minimal area. (Zero trace for the extrinsic curvature plus a "flare-out" condition.) This enables us to …
We present rotating wormhole solutions in General Relativity, which are supported by a phantom scalar field. These solutions evolve from the static Ellis wormhole, when the throat is set into rotation. As the rotational velocity increases, the throat deforms until at a maximal value of the rotational velocity, an extremal Kerr solution is encountered. The rotating wormholes attain a finite mass and quadrupole moment. They exhibit ergospheres and possess bound orbits.
We consider spinning generalizations of the Ellis wormhole in scalar-tensor theory. Analogous to other compact objects these wormholes can carry a non-trivial scalarization. We determine the domain of existence of the scalarized wormholes and investigate the effect of the scalarization on their properties. Depending on the choice of the coupling function, they may possess multiple throats and equators in the Jordan frame, while possessing only a single throat in the Einstein frame.
We cut and paste two Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) spacetimes at a throat by the Darmois-Israel method to construct a rotating wormhole with a thin shell filled with a barotropic fluid. The thin shell at the throat and both sides of the throat corotate. We investigate the linear stability of the thin shell of the rotating wormhole against radial perturbations. We show that the wormhole becomes more and more stable the larger its angular momentum is until the angular momentum reaches a critical value and that the behavior of a condition for stability significantly changes when the angular mo…
Wormhole is defined as the topological structure with the throat connecting two asymptotically flat spaces. In order to have and maintain the structure of the wormhole, there needs the geometrical flare-out condition, i.e., the minimal size at throat. In the case of Morris-Thorne type wormhole, the condition is given by the huge surface tension compared to the energy density times the square of the light speed. In this paper, we re-considered the flare-out condition for the wormhole with the Einstein equation, checked the finiteness of the pressure, and investigated its physical meaning.
We construct exact nonstatic nonhomogeneous spherically symmetric solutions in the theory of gravity with a scalar field possessing the exponential potential. The solution of particular interest corresponds to the scalar field with negative kinetic energy, i.e. a ghost, and represents two asymptotically homogeneous spatially flat universes connected by a throat. We interpret this solution as a wormhole in cosmological setting. Both the universes and the wormhole throat are simultaneously expanding with acceleration. The character of expansion qualitatively depends on the wormhole's mass $m$. F…
When bosonic matter in the form of a complex scalar field is added to Ellis wormholes, the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking is observed. Symmetric solutions possess full reflection symmetry with respect to the radial coordinate of the two asymptotically flat spacetime regions connected by the wormhole, whereas asymmetric solutions do not possess this symmetry. Depending on the size of the throat, at bifurcation points pairs of asymmetric solutions arise from or merge with the symmetric solutions. These asymmetric solutions are energetically favoured. When the backreaction of the bos…
The general form of a stationary, axially symmetric traversable wormhole is discussed. This provides an explicit class of rotating wormholes that generalize the static, spherically symmetric ones first considered by Morris and Thorne. In agreement with general analyses, it is verified that such a wormhole generically violates the null energy condition at the throat. However, for suitable model wormholes, there can be classes of geodesics falling through it which do not encounter any energy-condition-violating matter. The possible presence of an ergoregion surrounding the throat is also noted.
We analize the stability of a class of thin-shell wormholes with spherical symmetry evolving in flat FRW spacetimes. The wormholes considered here are supported at the throat by a perfect fluid with equation of state $\mathcal{P}=wσ$ and have a physical radius equal to $aR$, where $a$ is a time-dependent function describing the dynamics of the throat and $R$ is the background scale factor. The study of wormhole stability is done by means of the stability analysis of dynamic systems.
Gravitational lensing is a good probe into the topological structure of dark gravitating celestial objects. In this paper, we investigate the light curve of a light ray that passes through the throat of an Ellis wormhole, the simplest example of traversable wormholes. The method developed here is also applicable to other traversable wormholes. To study whether the light curve of a light ray that passes through a wormhole throat is distinguishable from that which does not, we also calculate light curves without the passage of a throat for an Ellis wormhole, a Schwarzschild black hole, and an ul…
We study geodesic motion near the throats of asymptotically flat, static, spherically~symmetric traversable wormholes supported by a self-gravitating minimally coupled phantom scalar field with an arbitrary self-interaction potential. We assume that any such wormhole possesses the reflection symmetry with respect to the throat, and consider only its observable "right~half". It turns out that the main features of bound orbits and photon trajectories close to the throats of such wormholes are very different from those near the horizons of black holes. We~distinguish between wormholes of two type…
