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Research paper

Wormhole Dynamics

Nonlinear Collapse and Gravitational-Wave Emission

Published
31 Mar 2026
Subjects
gr-qc · astro-ph.HE · hep-ex
Read on arXiv
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In brief

We computed the first gravitational waves from a collapsing wormhole. The Ellis–Bronnikov wormhole — the classic traversable solution, held open by a phantom scalar field — is unstable, and we followed its collapse in full 3D numerical relativity.

Weakened and nudged out of spherical symmetry, the throat collapses, a trapped surface forms and the event emits gravitational waves. The phantom matter swallowed by the new horizon then rebounds, launching an outward curvature shock.

(a)Traversable throat

AnimationThe compressive pathway, after Fig. 1 (Ssupport = 0.5, Aφ = +0.02). Classical evolution keeps the spatial topology intact: “pinch-off” means the throat’s areal radius collapses as an apparent horizon forms, cutting the two sides off from each other.

Why it matters

  • First gravitational waves from a collapsing wormhole

    In full 3D numerical relativity, the Ellis–Bronnikov throat, nudged out of spherical symmetry, collapses behind a new horizon and radiates.

  • Real radiation, not a numerical artefact

    The waveform peak crosses the extraction radii at 0.995c, unlike the faster-than-light constraint modes of the CCZ4 equations.

  • The phantom bounce

    After the horizon forms, the phantom matter it swallowed rebounds and launches an outward curvature shock.

  • A target for detectors

    A 10³ M☉ wormhole 1 Mpc away would peak at 100–300 Hz, just below Advanced LIGO’s design sensitivity; closer sources or next-generation detectors could catch it.

Gravitational waves from a collapsing wormhole, computed in full 3D numerical relativity.
First
Speed of the waveform peak between extraction radii R = 12 and 16 — physical radiation, not a gauge mode.
0.995c
An apparent horizon closes off the throat; the phantom matter it swallows rebounds and launches an outward curvature shock.
Bounce
At 1 Mpc, the signal peaks at 100–300 Hz, just below Advanced LIGO design sensitivity.
103 M☉

Abstract

We present 3D numerical-relativity evolutions of the unstable Ellis–Bronnikov wormhole using GRTeclyn, starting from exact isotropic initial data for the coupled Einstein–phantom-scalar system. With a flat initial lapse (α = 1) and full phantom support, truncation-level noise eventually drives the rarefactive instability and rapid throat expansion. To force a clean collapse while breaking spherical symmetry, we reduce the phantom stress-energy support to Ssupport = 0.5 and add a quadrupolar scalar-field perturbation (Aφ = +0.02, σφ = 0.5). The resulting compressive evolution forms a trapped surface and emits a gravitational-wave signal whose peak propagates between extraction radii at v ≈ c, distinct from superluminal CCZ4 constraint modes. After horizon formation the swallowed phantom matter triggers a violent rebound (“phantom bounce”) that launches an outward curvature shock. For the moderate perturbation amplitude simulated here, an intermediate-mass (103 M☉) wormhole at D = 1 Mpc falls slightly below the Advanced LIGO design sensitivity; detection requires either closer sources, larger initial asymmetries, or next-generation detectors.

13 pages, 7 figures · gr-qc, astro-ph.HE, hep-ex

Figures from the paper

Full paper
Fig. 1Embedding diagrams of the two instability pathways: compressive collapse to pinch-off (top) and rarefactive expansion (bottom).
Fig. 3Diagnostics of the perturbed collapse: the throat radius plunges and rebounds, and an apparent horizon forms, inflates in the phantom bounce, then is destroyed by the shock.
Fig. 4Ψ₄ extraction for the perturbed collapse: waveforms aligned in retarded time, spectrum, propagation speed, spectrogram, and strain against Advanced LIGO.

Cite

If this work or its code is useful to you, please cite the arXiv preprint.

Source & extraction data
BibTeX
@misc{shirokov2026wormhole,
  title         = {Wormhole Dynamics: Nonlinear Collapse and Gravitational-Wave Emission},
  author        = {Shirokov, Nikita M.},
  year          = {2026},
  eprint        = {2604.00071},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  primaryClass  = {gr-qc},
  url           = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.00071}
}