Dynamical wormholes in Lovelock gravity

TL;DR

This paper explores evolving wormhole solutions within third-order Lovelock gravity, demonstrating that certain configurations can satisfy the weak energy condition in an inflationary cosmological background.

Contribution

It introduces dynamic wormhole geometries in Lovelock gravity that can obey energy conditions, extending previous static solutions to evolving scenarios with higher-order curvature effects.

Findings

Some wormhole solutions respect the weak energy condition.

Higher-order Lovelock terms influence wormhole dynamics.

Evolving wormholes can exist in an inflationary universe.

Abstract

In this study we present evolving wormhole configurations in third-order {Lovelock} gravity and investigate the possibility that these solutions satisfy the energy conditions. Using a generalized Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime, we derive evolving wormhole geometries by considering a constraint on the Ricci scalar. In standard cosmological models, the Ricci scalar is independent of the radial coordinate $r$ and is only a function of time. We use this property to introduce dynamic wormhole solutions expanding in an inflationary cosmological background and explore the effects of higher-order {Lovelock} terms on the dynamics of such wormholes. Our analysis shows that for suitable third-order {Lovelock} coefficients, there are wormhole solutions that respect the weak energy condition {(WEC)}. In addition to this, we also present other wormhole solutions that satisfy the WEC throughout their respective evolution.