The surface shown is an embedding diagram of a Morris–Thorne traversable wormhole: a spatial slice bent into a funnel shape, plotted as radius vs. proper distance from the throat.
r(z) = √(z² + b²) (Morris–Thorne shape function)
dτ/dt ≈ 1 / (1 + exotic/b) (approx. throat time-dilation factor)
- Throat radius (b) — minimum radius of the wormhole "neck"; a larger throat needs a wider funnel and more negative-energy exotic matter to stay open.
- Exotic matter density — the (hypothetical) negative-energy density holding the throat open against gravitational collapse; too little and the throat pinches shut.
- Transit flow speed — how fast particles/light stream through the throat.
- Bidirectional flow — toggles whether travellers stream through from both mouths simultaneously or one-way only.
Real physics: traversable wormholes are consistent with general relativity's field equations, but every known solution requires exotic matter with negative energy density — never observed in bulk, which is why they remain firmly theoretical.