Experimental probes of traversable wormholes

Abstract

We propose possible probes which could be used to demonstrate experimentally the existence of the bulk and the formation of a traversable wormhole purely in terms of boundary operations only. In the two-dimensional Einstein-dilaton gravity, the traversable wormhole is realized by turning on a double trace interaction which couples the two boundaries of the AdS(2) black hole. Signals can propagate in the traversable wormhole through two different channels. The boundary channel is direct and instantaneous, while the bulk channel respects the bulk causality and takes a certain amount of time to complete signaling. In the latter case, we show that the signal frequency detected on the other side is highly modulated in general. The time delay as well as the frequency-modulation pattern could then be clear indications that the signal comes out through the bulk channel. We discuss the characteristics of the observed signal more explicitly for simple transitional configurations of the black hole from/to the eternal traversable wormhole.