1,595 research outputs found
Scale invariance and critical gravitational collapse
We examine ways to write the Choptuik critical solution as the evolution of
scale invariant variables. It is shown that a system of scale invariant
variables proposed by one of the authors does not evolve periodically in the
Choptuik critical solution. We find a different system, based on maximal
slicing. This system does evolve periodically, and may generalize to the case
of axisymmetry or of no symmetry at all.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Revtex, discussion modified to clarify
presentatio
Scaling of curvature in sub-critical gravitational collapse
We perform numerical simulations of the gravitational collapse of a
spherically symmetric scalar field. For those data that just barely do not form
black holes we find the maximum curvature at the position of the central
observer. We find a scaling relation between this maximum curvature and
distance from the critical solution. The scaling relation is analogous to that
found by Choptuik for black hole mass for those data that do collapse to form
black holes. We also find a periodic wiggle in the scaling exponent.Comment: Revtex, 2 figures, Discussion modified, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Critical Collapse of the Massless Scalar Field in Axisymmetry
We present results from a numerical study of critical gravitational collapse
of axisymmetric distributions of massless scalar field energy. We find
threshold behavior that can be described by the spherically symmetric critical
solution with axisymmetric perturbations. However, we see indications of a
growing, non-spherical mode about the spherically symmetric critical solution.
The effect of this instability is that the small asymmetry present in what
would otherwise be a spherically symmetric self-similar solution grows. This
growth continues until a bifurcation occurs and two distinct regions form on
the axis, each resembling the spherically symmetric self-similar solution. The
existence of a non-spherical unstable mode is in conflict with previous
perturbative results, and we therefore discuss whether such a mode exists in
the continuum limit, or whether we are instead seeing a marginally stable mode
that is rendered unstable by numerical approximation.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Dimensional Dependence of Black Hole Formation in Self-Similar Collapse of Scalar Field
We study classical and quantum self-similar collapses of a massless scalar
field in higher dimensions, and examine how the increase in the number of
dimensions affects gravitational collapse and black hole formation. Higher
dimensions seem to favor formation of black hole rather than other final
states, in that the initial data space for black hole formation enlarges as
dimension increases. On the other hand, the quantum gravity effect on the
collapse lessens as dimension increases. We also discuss the gravitational
collapse in a brane world with large but compact extra dimensions.Comment: Improved a few arguments and added a figur
The naked singularity in the global structure of critical collapse spacetimes
We examine the global structure of scalar field critical collapse spacetimes
using a characteristic double-null code. It can integrate past the horizon
without any coordinate problems, due to the careful choice of constraint
equations used in the evolution. The limiting sequence of sub- and
supercritical spacetimes presents an apparent paradox in the expected Penrose
diagrams, which we address in this paper. We argue that the limiting spacetime
converges pointwise to a unique limit for all r>0, but not uniformly. The r=0
line is different in the two limits. We interpret that the two different
Penrose diagrams differ by a discontinuous gauge transformation. We conclude
that the limiting spacetime possesses a singular event, with a future removable
naked singularity.Comment: RevTeX 4; 6 pages, 7 figure
An extreme critical space-time: echoing and black-hole perturbations
A homothetic, static, spherically symmetric solution to the massless
Einstein- Klein-Gordon equations is described. There is a curvature singularity
which is central, null, bifurcate and marginally trapped. The space-time is
therefore extreme in the sense of lying at the threshold between black holes
and naked singularities, just avoiding both. A linear perturbation analysis
reveals two types of dominant mode. One breaks the continuous self-similarity
by periodic terms reminiscent of discrete self-similarity, with echoing period
within a few percent of the value observed numerically in near-critical
gravitational collapse. The other dominant mode explicitly produces a black
hole, white hole, eternally naked singularity or regular dispersal, the latter
indicating that the background is critical. The black hole is not static but
has constant area, the corresponding mass being linear in the perturbation
amplitudes, explicitly determining a unit critical exponent. It is argued that
a central null singularity may be a feature of critical gravitational collapse.Comment: 6 revtex pages, 6 eps figure
Scalar field collapse in three-dimensional AdS spacetime
We describe results of a numerical calculation of circularly symmetric scalar
field collapse in three spacetime dimensions with negative cosmological
constant. The procedure uses a double null formulation of the Einstein-scalar
equations. We see evidence of black hole formation on first implosion of a
scalar pulse if the initial pulse amplitude is greater than a critical
value . Sufficiently near criticality the apparent horizon radius
grows with pulse amplitude according to the formula .Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; references added, to appear in CQG(L
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