Black holes in Einstein-aether theory

Abstract

We study black hole solutions in general relativity coupled to a unit timelike vector field dubbed the ‘aether’. To be causally isolated, a black hole interior must trap matter fields as well as all aether and metric modes. The theory possesses spin-0, spin-1 and spin-2 modes whose speeds depend on four coupling coefficients. We find that the full three-parameter family of local spherically symmetric static solutions is always regular at a metric horizon, but only a two-parameter subset is regular at a spin-0 horizon. Asymptotic flatness imposes another condition, leaving a one-parameter family of regular black holes. These solutions are compared to the Schwarzschild solution using numerical integration for a special class of coupling coefficients. They are very close to Schwarzschild outside the horizon for a wide range of couplings, and have a spacelike singularity inside, but differ inside quantitatively. Some quantities constructed from the metric and aether oscillate in the interior as the singularity is approached. The aether is at rest at spatial infinity and flows into the black hole, but differs significantly from the 4-velocity of freely falling geodesics.