arXiv subjects

Kirill A. Bronnikov

Publications and source records attributed to Kirill A. Bronnikov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

From massless wormholes to massive black bounces: Shadows and multiple light rings

We develop a general framework for constructing massive black bounce geometries from massless wormhole seeds by introducing a position-dependent mass function while preserving the underlying areal-radius profile. We apply this procedure to the generalized Ellis-Bronnikov wormhole and obtain a new family of generalized Bardeen-like black bounce space-times, which continuously interpolates between traversable wormholes and regular black holes. We investigate the motion of massive particles and photons and show that, in contrast with the simpler orbital structure of the massless generalized Ellis-Bronnikov geometry, the generalized Bardeen-like space-time can exhibit multiple circular orbits and a rich light ring structure, including configurations with two unstable circular photon orbits separated by a stable one. We determine the corresponding photon sphere and shadow radii and compare our predictions with Event Horizon Telescope observations of Sgr A*, deriving observational constraints on the parameter space of the model. We further investigate the optical appearance produced by a geometrically and optically thin accretion disk through ray tracing. Multiple light rings generate characteristic nested structures in the high-resolution intensity profiles, whose relative brightness is strongly affected by the mass deformation and gravitational redshift. However, after modeling the finite angular resolution of the EHT with a Gaussian beam convolution, these fine structures are largely washed out, revealing a strong observational degeneracy between these exotic compact objects and standard black hole geometries at current EHT resolution.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Nonlinear electrodynamics and stability of spherically symmetric space-times in scalar-tensor gravity

We study linear perturbations of static, spherically symmetric solutions of scalar-tensor theories (STT) of gravity from the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class, sourced by nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). We obtain a general expression for the effective potential $V_{\rm eff}$ governing the perturbation dynamics for theories with arbitrary scalar-electromagnetic interaction of the form $L(ψ, F)$, where $ψ$ is a scalar field and $F = F_{μν} F^{μν}$ the electromagnetic invariant. This consideration includes, in particular, arbitrary scalar self-interaction potentials and scalar fields that can be phantom in some regions of space-time (the so-called trapped ghosts). Only radial (monopole) perturbations are considered here as the most likely ones to cause an instability. It is shown, in particular, that if NED has a correct Maxwell weak field limit, the zero charge limit of $V_{\rm eff}$ does not contain any trace of NED, and the perturbation dynamics is the same as for vacuum STT solutions. The previously obtained stability results for STT-Maxwell solutions are shown to be extended without change to STT-NED solutions with equal electric and magnetic charges, implying $F =0$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

5D black holes and mirror (topological) stars from nonlinear electrodynamics: Existence and stability

We consider static, spherically symmetric solutions of 5D general relativity with magnetic fields governed by nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) with the Lagrangian $L(\cal F)$, ${\cal F} = F_{AB} F^{AB}$, and show that generic solutions describe either 5D black holes (also called black strings due to a circular extra dimension) or so-called mirror stars with perfectly reflecting boundary surfaces (also called topological stars), not to be confused with 4D configurations of mirror matter considered in particle physics. Two particular examples of such solutions have been obtained, admitting analytic expressions for the metric coefficients and $L(\cal F)$, and their stability under radial (monopole) perturbations is studied. While the whole obtained family of black hole solutions turns out to be stable, mirror star solutions prove to be stable only in a certain range in the parameter space. We thus extend to the Einstein-NED system the results previously obtained for Einstein-Maxwell fields.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Robustness of bound states in the continuum in metasurface based on Ge$_2$Sb$_2$Te$_5$ versus structural imperfections

We study the impact of lithography imperfections on quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs) supported by a one-dimensional metasurface of Ge$_2$Sb$_2$Te$_5$ (GST) bars with trapezoidal deviations from rectangular cross-sections. Several mechanisms of quality ($Q$) factor scaling, including the impact of material losses, dispersion, and geometric imperfections are established. We demonstrate that transition to identical isosceles trapezoids, despite preserving the required $C_2$ symmetry, reduces the $Q$ factor in the amorphous phase due to absorption changes accompanying the resonance shift. Further, the $Q$ factor remains robust for both GST phases under random element-to-element variations of the trapezoid angle, while analytical and numerical estimations in the absence of material losses show inverse-quadratic scaling of the Q factor with the disorder amplitude. We reveal that in the GST-based metasurface, the $Q$ factor is tolerant to geometric imperfections for insignificant dispersion near the BIC wavelength, but changes in case of substantial dispersion. The phase shifting and established robustness of BICs in GST can be useful for applications where stable moderate $Q$ factors are essential.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Stability ranges of magnetic black holes and mirror (topological) stars in 5D gravity

We discuss static, spherically symmetric solutions to the 5D Einstein-Maxwell equations (belonging to wide classes of multidimensional solutions known at least from the 1990s) and select among them those which must observationally look like local objects whose surface reflects back particles or signals getting there, the so-called mirror stars (also called ``topological stars'' by some authors). Their significant parameters are the Schwarzschild mass $m$ and the magnetic charge $q$, such that $q^2 > 3m^2$, while the radius of their mirror surface is $r_b = 2q^2/(3m) > 2m$. We also discuss their black hole counterparts for which $q^2 \leq 3m^2$. For both these objects, we study spherically symmetric time-dependent perturbations and determine the stability regions in their parameter spaces. Thus, mirror stars turn out to be stable only at $r_b < r_b^{\rm crit} \approx 4.004\,m$, while the black holes prove to be stable in the whole range of their parameters. We calculate the fundamental frequencies and decay rates of black hole perturbations using the WKB and time domain methods. Our stability results disagree with some of those previously announced in the literature.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Formation and evolution of a 2-brane structure in multidimensional $f(R)$ gravity

It has been previously shown that multidimensional $f(R)$ gravity {can lead} to a two-brane structure. In this paper, we analyze such a model with a spatially flat 4D de Sitter (dS) cosmology {whose Hubble parameter $H$ determines the universal energy scale}. We show that the two-brane metric is nucleated at the highest energies. The distance between the branes grows gradually as the energy decreases, tending to a finite value at zero energy density. It is stated that the physical parameters such as the 4D Planck mass, the Higgs vacuum expectation value, and vacuum energy density vary with the evolving universal energy scale, even on the classical level. We also show that the Higgs vacuum expectation value is different on different branes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Gravitational lensing by Lema\^ıtre-Tolman-Bondi wormholes in a Friedmann universe

The Lema\^ıtre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) solution to the Einstein equations describes the dynamics of a self-gravitating spherically symmetric dust cloud with an arbitrary density profile and any distribution of initial velocities, encoded in three arbitrary functions $f(R)$, $F(R)$, and $τ_0(R)$, where $R$ is a radial coordinate in the comoving reference frame. A particular choice of these functions corresponds to a wormhole geometry with a throat defined as a sphere of minimum radius at a fixed time instant. In this paper we explore LTB wormholes and discuss their possible observable appearance studying in detail the effects of gravitational lensing by such objects. For this aim, we study photon motion in wormhole space-time inscribed in a closed Friedmann dustfilled universe and find the wormhole shadow as it could be seen by a distant observer. Since the LTB wormhole is a dynamic object, we analyze the dependence of its shadow size on the observation time and on the initial size of the wormhole region. We reveal that the angular size of the shadow exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on the observation time. At early times, the shadow size decreases as photons with smaller angular momentum gradually reach the observer. At later times, the expansion of the Friedmann Universe becomes a dominant factor that leads to an increase in the shadow size.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

On the stability of exceptional Brans-Dicke wormholes

In our previous papers we have analyzed the stability of vacuum and electrovacuum static, spherically symmetric space-times in the framework of the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class of scalar-tensor theories (STT) of gravity. In the present paper, we continue this study by examining the stability of exceptional solutions of the Brans-Dicke theory with the coupling constant $ω=0$ that were not covered in the previous studies. Such solutions describe neutral or charged wormholes and involve a conformal continuation: the standard conformal transformation maps the whole Einstein-frame manifold ${\mathbb M}_E$ to only a part of the Jordan-frame manifold ${\mathbb M}_J$, which has to be continued beyond the emerging regular boundary S, and the new region maps to another manifold ${\mathbb M}_{E-}$. The metric in ${\mathbb M}_J$ is symmetric with respect to S only if the charge $q$ is zero. Our stability study concerns radial (monopole) perturbations, and it is shown that the wormhole is stable if $q \ne 0$ and unstable only in the symmetric case $q=0$

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Alexei Starobinsky and wormhole physics

Alexei Starobinsky is most famous for his great contribution to cosmology, but he has considerable achievements in other branches of gravitational physics and astrophysics, such as the theory of compact objects including black holes and wormholes. In this note, we give a brief review of Alexei's papers devoted to wormhole physics. They mostly concern such issues of common interest as the necessary conditions for wormhole existence in general relativity and its extensions as well as generic properties of some kinds of wormholes. We also extend one of the no-go theorems on thin-shell wormholes to a wider choice of their symmetry and matter content.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Magnetic mirror stars in five dimensions

We discuss a class of solutions of multidimensional gravity which are formally related to black-hole solutions but can observationally look like compact stars whose surface reflects back all particles or signals getting there. Some particular examples of such solutions are presented and studied, including those with a magnetic field in Maxwell or nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) in five dimensions. For NED as a possible source for magnetic mirror stars, we formulate a methodology of solving the 5D Einstein-NED equations and point out the conditions under which there always exist mirror star solutions. We also note that some of the Einstein-Maxwell solutions under consideration are discussed in the literature and called ``topological stars'' due to the circular topology of the fifth dimension.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

On the stability of electrovacuum space-times in scalar-tensor gravity

We study the behavior of static, spherically symmetric solutions to the field equations of scalar-tensor theories (STT) of gravity belonging to the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class, in the presence of an electric and/or magnetic charge. This class of theories includes the Brans-Dicke, Barker and Schwinger STT as well as nonminimally coupled scalar fields with an arbitrary parameter $ξ$. The study is restricted to canonical (nonphantom) versions of the theories and scalar fields without a self-interaction potential. Only radial (monopole) perturbations are considered as the most likely ones to cause an instability. The static background solutions contain naked singularities, but we formulate the boundary conditions in such a way that would preserve their meaning if a singularity is smoothed, for example, due to quantum gravity effects. These boundary conditions look more physical than those used by other authors. Since the solutions of all STT under study are related by conformal transformations, the stability problem for all of them reduces to the same wave equation, but the boundary conditions for perturbations (and sometimes the boundaries themselves) are different in different STT, which affects the stability results. The stability or instability conclusions are obtained for different branches of solutions in the theories under consideration and are presented in a table form.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

On black bounce space-times in non-linear electrodynamics

One of the main issues in gravitation is the presence of singularities in the most common space-time solutions of General Relativity, as the case of black holes. A way of constructing regular solutions that remove spacelike singularities consists in implement a bounce on such space-time, leading to what is usually known as black bounce space-times. Such space-times are known to describe regular black holes or traversable wormholes. However, one of the main issues lies on reconstructing the appropriate source that leads to such a solution. In this paper, a reconstruction method is implemented to show that such types of metrics can be well accommodated in non-linear electrodynamics with the presence of a scalar field. Some of the most important black bounces solutions are reconstructed in this framework, both in 3+1 as in 2+1 dimensions. For the first time in the literature, these solutions have an electrically charged source of matter from non-linear electrodynamics. Specific features are indicated that distinguish electric sources from magnetic ones, previously found for the same space-times.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Regular black holes as an alternative to black bounce

The so-called black bounce mechanism of singularity suppression, proposed by Simpson and Visser, consists in replacing the spherical radius $r$ in the metric tensor with $\sqrt{r^2 + a^2}$, $a = \rm const >0$. This removes a singularity at $r=0$ and its neighborhood from space-time, and there emerges a regular minimum of the spherical radius that can be a wormhole throat or a regular bounce (if located inside a black hole). Instead, it is proposed here to make $r=0$ a regular center by proper (Bardeen type) replacements in the metric, preserving its form at large $r$. Such replacements are applied to a class of metrics satisfying the condition $R^t_t = R^r_r$ for their Ricci tensor, in particular, to the Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström and Einstein-Born-Infeld solutions. A simpler version of nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) is proposed, for which a black hole solution is similar to the Einstein-Born-Infeld one but is simpler expressed analytically. All new regular metrics can be presented as solutions to NED-Einstein equations with radial magnetic fields.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

On the stability of spherically symmetric space-times in scalar-tensor gravity

We study the linear stability of vacuum static, spherically symmetric solutions to the gravitational field equations of the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class of scalar-tensor theories (STT) of gravity, restricting ourselves to nonphantom theories, massless scalar fields and configurations with positive Schwarzschild mass. We consider only small radial (monopole) perturbations as the ones most likely to cause an instability. The problem reduces to the same Schroedinger-like master equation as is known for perturbations of Fisher's solution of general relativity (GR), but the corresponding boundary conditions that affect the final result of the study depend on the choice of the STT and a particular solution within it. The stability or instability conclusions are obtained for the Brans-Dicke, Barker and Schwinger STT as well as for GR nonminimally coupled to a scalar field with an arbitrary parameter $ξ$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Possible wormholes in a Friedmann universe

We study the properties of evolving wormholes able to exist in a closed Friedmann dust-filled universe and described by a particular branch of the well-known Lemaıtre-Tolman-Bondi solution to the Einstein equations and its generalization with a nonzero cosmological constant and an electromagnetic field. Most of the results are obtained with pure dust solutions. It is shown, in particular, that the lifetime of wormhole throats is much shorter than that of the whole wormhole region in the universe (which coincides with the lifetime of the universe as a whole), and that the density of matter near the boundary of the wormhole region is a few times smaller than the mean density of matter in the universe. Explicit examples of wormhole solutions and the corresponding numerical estimates are presented. The traversability of the wormhole under study is shown by a numerical analysis of radial null geodesics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Cylindrical black bounces and their field sources

We apply the Simpson-Visser phenomenological regularization method to a cylindrically symmetric solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations known as an inverted black hole. In addition to analyzing some properties of thus regularized space-time, including the Carter-Penrose diagrams, we show that this solution can be obtained from the Einstein equations with a source combining a phantom scalar field with a nonzero self-interaction potential and a nonlinear magnetic field. A similar kind of source is obtained for the cylindrical black bounce solution proposed by Lima et al. as a regularized version of Lemos's black string solution. Such sources are shown to be possible for a certain class of cylindrically, planarly and toroidally symmetric metrics that includes the regularized solutions under consideration.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Multi-scale hierarchy from multidimensional gravity

We discuss the way of solving the hierarchy problem. We show that starting at the Planck scale, the three energy scales -- inflationary, electroweak and the cosmological ones can be restored. The formation of small parameters is proposed that leads to a successful solution of the problem. The tools involved in the process are $f(R)$ gravity and inhomogeneous extra dimensions. Slow rolling of a space domain from the Planck scale down to the inflationary one gives rise to three consequences: an infinite set of causally disconnected domains (pocket universes) are nucleated; quantum fluctuations in each domain produce a variety of different fields and an extra-dimensional metric distribution; these distributions are stabilized at a sufficiently low energy scale.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Current problems and recent advances in wormhole physics

Wormholes are extremely attractive objects for research, and although many mathematical and physical properties of these objects have been discovered and studied in the recent decades, there remain many unsolved problems and opportunities of interest. The Special issue of Universe entitled ``Recent Advances in Wormhole Physics,'' containing 14 contributions, is aimed at enlightening some recent results in selected areas of wormhole physics.

gr-qc↗