From the Flamm–Einstein–Rosen bridge to the modern renaissance of traversable wormholes

Abstract

We consider the possibility of multiply-connected spacetimes, ranging from the Flamm–Einstein–Rosen bridge, geons, and the modern renaissance of traversable wormholes. A fundamental property in wormhole physics is the flaring-out condition of the throat, which through the Einstein field equation entails the violation of the null energy condition (NEC). In the context of modified theories of gravity, it has also been shown that the normal matter can be imposed to satisfy the energy conditions, and it is the higher order curvature terms, interpreted as a gravitational fluid, that sustain these nonstandard wormhole geometries, fundamentally different from their counterparts in general relativity (GR). We explore interesting features of these geometries, in particular, the physical properties and characteristics of these ‘exotic spacetimes’.