Classical analogue of an interstellar travel through a hydrodynamic wormhole

Abstract

The classical theory of space-time, namely general relativity, suggests but does not demonstrate the existence of so-called wormholes allowing for interstellar journeys. Alternative proposals such as quantum gravity theories are developed nowadays to allow for wormhole travels by assuming hypothetical trans-Planckian effects at tiny scales. Here we show experimentally that analogue traversable and bidirectional wormholes exist in hydrodynamics following a suggestion by Wheeler. Using a water channel, we sent free surface waves on a countercurrent in an analogue gravity setup aiming at showing that hydrodynamic wormhole travels are controlled by a cascade of dispersive scales including surface tension effects: the capillary wavelength plays the role of a Planckian scale below which long gravity waves are transformed into short capillary waves that are able to move at speeds higher than the ``flow'' of space-time. Whereas our results do not apply to putative astrophysical wormholes per se, we anticipate that they will trigger new ideas to explore quantum gravity physics.