Gravitational collapse in the AdS background and the black hole formation

Abstract

We study the time evolution of the Misner-Sharp mass and the apparent horizon for gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field in the [Formula: see text] spacetime for both cases of narrow and broad waves by numerically solving the Einstein’s equations coupled to a massless scalar field. This is done by relying on the full dynamics of the collapse including the concept of the dynamical horizon. It turns out that the Misner-Sharp mass is everywhere constant except for a rapid change across a thin shell defined by the density profile of the collapsing wave. By studying the evolution of the apparent horizon, indicating the formation of a black hole at different times we see how asymptotically an event horizon forms. The dependence of the thermalization time on the radius of the initial black hole event horizon is also studied.