We obtain the self-interaction for a point charge in the space-time of a cylindrical thin-shell wormhole connecting two identical locally flat geometries with a constant deficit angle. Although this wormhole geometry is locally indistinguishable from a cosmic string background, the corresponding self-forces are different even at the qualitative level. In fact, in the cosmic string geometry the force is always repulsive while for the wormhole background we find that the force may point outward or toward the wormhole throat depending on the parameters of the configuration. These results suggest that the study of the electromagnetic fields of charged particles is a useful tool for testing the global properties of a given background.

• Received 13 October 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.86.124009