Evolving wormhole cosmology: modified Friedmann dynamics and observational constraints

Abstract

We construct an evolving wormhole cosmological model from a Morris--Thorne metric with a separable, time-dependent shape function in a spatially flat Friedmann--Lemaitre--Robertson--Walker background, deriving the corrected wormhole energy-momentum tensor and a volume-averaging procedure that yields a modified Friedmann equation with a redshift-dependent wormhole correction term. We show that the shape-function index and throat-evolution exponent combine into a single macroscopic exponent $β$, and we demonstrate that the resulting wormhole equation of state is consistent with this geometric averaging. All traversability conditions are verified. Confronting the model with cosmic chronometer, DESI Data Release~2 BAO, and standard BAO data across seven dataset combinations, our findings show that all combinations are mutually consistent, with the joint fit giving a present-day expansion rate intermediate between local and CMB-inferred values, a deceleration-to-acceleration transition consistent with independent determinations, and an effective dark-energy equation of state close to, but distinguishable from, a pure cosmological constant. The evolving throat radius offers a novel, geometry-specific observable for discriminating wormhole spacetimes from phenomenological dark-energy parametrisations.