Traversable wormholes from galactic dark matter halos in f(R) gravity

In this work, we investigate the existence of traversable wormhole solutions within f ( R ) gravity by assuming higher-order curvature model f ( R ) = R + α R 2 ( 1 + γ R ) . The investigation is performed using three well-established galactic dark matter halo profiles: the Universal Rotation Curve (URC), Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) model-I, and NFW model-II. By solving the modified field equations, we establish that these dark matter distributions are capable of generating physically acceptable wormhole shape functions that satisfy the wormhole geometries (e.g. flare-out condition at the throat) for appropriate choices of the model parameters. Additionally, we investigate the associated effective energy conditions, obtained from the total (matter plus curvature-induced) stress–energy content of the modified field equations, and show that the effective null energy condition (NEC) is violated in the vicinity of the throat. This violation is a generic geometric requirement of the flare-out condition at a traversable wormhole throat and is not, by itself, a statement about dynamical stability, which is not addressed in the present work. Our findings suggest that, within the context of non-linear f ( R ) gravity, realistic galactic dark matter halos can act as effective sources for sustaining wormhole geometries. This establishes a potential link between dark matter phenomenology and higher-order curvature corrections in gravitational theory.