Wormhole solutions under tidal force constraints in f(Q) gravity: a unified approach

Abstract This article explores traversable wormhole geometries obtained in the context of the symmetric teleparallel gravity theory and highlights their distinctive physical characteristics. Our methodology involves determining the tidal force by employing a specified form of the shape function along with an appropriate equation of state for Case I. In order to extract the shape functions associated with the wormhole solution, we apply the null-complexity condition with tidal force in Case II. In Case III, we utilize the balancing Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation in conjunction with a tidal force to obtain viable wormhole shape function. The analysis focuses on the dependence of wormhole characteristics on the parameter $$\zeta $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>ζ</mml:mi> </mml:math> . The energy conditions are examined within their respective validity domains for various ranges of the model parameters. We also calculate, the volume integral quantifier, the extent of exotic matter needed to uphold the traversable wormhole structure. Through the effective potential for timelike geodesics, the influence of angular momentum on trajectories is clarified, and the corresponding deflection angle evaluation points to significant light bending close to the throat. By introducing small radial perturbations around the equilibrium shell radius, we examine the stability characteristics for all considered shape functions.