Chaotic particle dynamics near a traversable wormhole throat

Abstract

This study investigates the nonlinear dynamics of a test particle near the traversable wormhole throat under an external harmonic potential. One-dimensional radial perturbation analysis shows that the particle is locally linearly stable at the equilibrium position. However, for two-dimensional and high-energy cases, the system exhibits a nonlinear response, triggering significant chaotic dynamics.The analysis indicates that, if the particle is confined on one side of the wormhole, the Poincaré section will still retain Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser (KAM) tori under extremely high-energy conditions, which is distinct from the integrability to chaos transition triggered near the black hole event horizon under external potential.By studying another set of shape functions, the robustness of the observed phase space structure against different geometric profiles is substantiated. This research demonstrates a specific nonlinear dynamical phenomenon of the traversable wormhole. It provides a new criterion, based on chaotic dynamics, for identifying black hole mimickers in strong-field astrophysical observations.