Optical signatures of the Kiselev-inspired wormholes

Abstract

In this paper, we present an analytical study of null geodesics and massless scalar fields in traversable wormholes supported by anisotropic Kiselev-type matter. The geometry, defined by the throat radius [Formula: see text] and equation-of-state parameter [Formula: see text], satisfies regularity and flaring-out conditions. Photon trajectories are characterized by exact photon-sphere conditions, critical impact parameters, and bending angles, with the effective potential [Formula: see text] encoding the geometry and redshift profile. Scalar perturbations reduce to a generalized Helmholtz-type equation with a frequency ([Formula: see text])-dependent refractive index [Formula: see text], which exhibits strong near-throat confinement for low-frequency waves and approaches a nondispersive, ray-like behavior in the high-frequency limit. This framework provides a self-consistent analytical description of ray and wave propagation in Kiselev-type wormholes, highlighting the influence of geometry and redshift on light and scalar fields across all frequency regimes.