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Wormhole geometries in modified theories of gravity

Speaker Dr. Francisco S. N. Lobo
Affiliation Group of Cosmology and Gravitational Physics,
Centro de Astronomia e Astrofisica da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Date February 23, 2012 (Thu)
Time 4:00 p.m.
Venue Room 522, 5/F, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, HKU

Abstract:

A fundamental ingredient in wormhole physics is the presence of exotic matter, which involves the violation of the null energy condition. Although a plethora of wormhole solutions have been explored in the literature, it is useful to find geometries that minimize the usage of exotic matter. In the context of modified gravity, it has also been shown that the normal matter can be imposed to satisfy the null energy condition, and it is the higher order curvature terms, interpreted as a gravitational fluid, that sustain these non-standard wormhole geometries, fundamentally different from their counterparts in general relativity. In this talk, we review recent work in wormhole physics in the context of modified theories of gravity.

Coffee and tea will be served 20 minutes prior to the seminar.