Wormholes: Myth or Reality? Prospects for Future Observations
Subenoy Chakraborty, Madhukrishna Chakraborty
Published: 2025/9/17
Abstract
Traversable wormholes (TWHs) remain one of the most intriguing predictions of General Relativity (GR), offering passage through space-time. However, their existence requires the violation of the null energy condition, making their detection a bit challenging. The essay aims at showing the new avenues probing the observational prospects of TWHs via quasinormal modes and grey body factors, the two fundamental aspects in wave dynamics. The role of QNMs in characterizing the ringdown phase of perturbations and the grey body factors in determining transmission probabilities through wormhole barriers has been investigated. Given their distinct spectral imprints, these features provide a potential means to distinguish wormholes from black holes in gravity wave observations. Advances in high-precision interferometry and multi-messenger astronomy may soon offer crucial insights into the existence of these exotic structures. Essay received Honorable Mention at the Gravity Research Foundation 2025 Awards for Essays on Gravitation