Peculiarities of quantum field theory in the presence of a wormhole

Abstract

In this paper, quantum theory of a real massive scalar field in the background of a traversable wormhole is examined. The wormhole is supposed to connect two different universes; as a particular example the simplest Ellis wormhole is considered. It is shown that the resulting theory possesses a doubling of quantum states parametrized by the same value of asymptotic momentum; two different sets of such degenerate states are localized in different universes. This is a consequence of the topological structure of the wormhole spacetime, which is the same as the topological structure of the Schwarzschild spacetime providing a similar degeneracy of quantum states.

20 pages, 1 figure. v2: Conclusion enlarged, 7 references added, typos corrected

References in corpus (3)

• Doubling of physical states in the quantum scalar field theory for a remote observer in the Schwarzschild spacetime
• Asymptotic behavior of solutions and spectrum of states in the quantum scalar field theory in the Schwarzschild spacetime
• Semiclassical Gravity in the Far Field Limit of Stars, Black Holes, and Wormholes