Magnetic charge, black holes, and cosmic censorship

Abstract

The possibility of converting a Reissner-Nordström black hole into a naked singularity by means of test particle accretion is considered. The dually charged Reissner-Nordström metric describes a black hole only when M 2 > Q 3 + P 2. The test particle equations of motion are shown to allow test particles with arbitrarily large magnetic charge/mass ratios to fall radially into electrically charged black holes. To determine the nature of the final state (black hole or naked singularity) an exact solution of Einstein's equations representing a spherical shell of magnetically charged dust falling into an electrically charged black hole is studied. Naked singularities are never formed so long as the weak energy condition is obeyed by the infalling matter. The differences between the spherical shell model and an infalling point test particle are examined and discussed.