New Type of Traversable Wormhole

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel traversable wormhole solution in general relativity that does not require exotic matter, instead relying on spacetime defects, and explores its implications for time travel and potential experimental detection.

Contribution

It presents a new class of wormhole solutions based on spacetime defects, avoiding exotic matter, and discusses their properties and possible observational signatures.

Findings

Wormholes can be supported by spacetime defects without exotic matter.

Multiple vacuum-defect wormholes may enable backward time travel.

Potential experimental signatures from a 'gas' of vacuum-defect wormholes.

Abstract

We review a new traversable-wormhole solution of the gravitational field equation of general relativity without exotic matter. Instead of having exotic matter to keep the wormhole throat open, the solution relies on a 3-dimensional "spacetime defect," which is characterized by a locally vanishing metric determinant. We also discuss the corresponding multiple-vacuum-defect-wormhole solution and possible experimental signatures from a "gas" of vacuum-defect wormholes. Multiple vacuum-defect wormholes appear to allow for backward time travel.