Wormholes supported by small extra dimensions

Abstract

Holding a Morris-Thorne wormhole open requires a violation of the null energy condition, calling for the need for so-called exotic matter near the throat. Many researchers consider exotic matter to be completely unphysical in classical general relativity. It has been shown, however, that the existence of an extra macroscopic dimension can resolve this issue: the throat could be lined with ordinary matter, while the extra dimension is then responsible for the unavoidable energy violation. The purpose of this paper is to show that the extra dimension can be microscopic, a result that is consistent with string theory.