Proca Stars Research Articles

Dynamical bar-mode instability in spinning bosonic stars

Spinning bosonic stars (SBSs) can form from the gravitational collapse of a dilute cloud of scalar/Proca particles with non-zero angular momentum. In a recent work we found that the scalar stars are transient due to a non-axisymmetric instability which triggers the loss of angular momentum. We further study the dynamical formation of SBSs using 3-dimensional numerical-relativity simulations of the Einstein-(massive, complex)Klein-Gordon system and of the Einstein-(complex)Proca system. We incorporate a quartic self-interaction potential in the scalar case to gauge its effect on the instability; we investigate (m=2) Proca stars to assess their stability; we attempt to relate the instability of SBSs to the growth rate of azimuthal density modes and the existence of a corotation point. We show that: the self-interaction potential can only delay the instability in scalar SBSs; m=2 Proca stars always migrate to the stable m=1 spheroidal family; unstable m=2 Proca stars and m=1 scalar boson stars exhibit a corotation point. This establishes a parallelism with rotating neutron stars affected by dynamical bar-mode instabilities. We compute the gravitational waves (GWs) emitted and investigate the detectability of the waveforms comparing the characteristic strain of the signal with the sensitivity curves of a variety of detectors, computing the signal-to-noise ratio. By assuming that the characteristic damping timescale of the bar-like deformation in SBSs is only set by GWs emission and not by viscosity (unlike in neutron stars), we find that the post-collapse emission could be orders of magnitude more energetic than that of the bar-mode instability itself. Our results indicate that GW observations of SBSs might be within the reach of future experiments, offering a potential means to establish the existence of such stars and to place tight constraints on the mass of the bosonic particle.

Tidal Love numbers of Proca stars

Proca stars [1] are everywhere regular, asymptotically flat self-gravitating solitons composed of complex, massive vector bosons, forming a macroscopic, star-sized, Bose-Einstein condensate. They have been suggested as a classical, dynamical model of exotic compact objects, black hole mimickers and dark matter candidates. In spherical symmetry, they are qualitatively similar to their scalar cousins, the standard (scalar) boson stars in all respects studied so far. Here we study the tidal deformability and the quadrupolar tidal Love numbers, both electric-type and magnetic-type, of spherically symmetric Proca stars. The equations for the perturbations are derived and the numerical values of the Love numbers for some concrete background solutions are computed. We observe that both Love numbers are qualitatively similar to the ones of the scalar boson stars; in particular, the electric-type (magnetic-type) quadrupolar Love numbers are positive (negative) for Proca stars. Quantitatively, for the same compactness, the electric and magnetic Love numbers in the Proca case are closer (in magnitude) than in the scalar case, with the electric Love numbers having a slightly larger magnitude than the magnetic ones.

Black holes with synchronised Proca hair: linear clouds and fundamental non-linear solutions

Recent studies have made key progress on the black hole/solitonic solutions of the Einstein-Proca system. Firstly, fully non-linear dynamical evolutions of the Kerr black hole superradiant instability, triggered by a Proca field, have shown the formation of a new equilibrium state, a spinning black hole with synchronised Proca hair. Secondly, non-linear evolutions of spinning Proca stars have established that they are dynamically stable, unlike their scalar cousins. Thirdly, separability of the Proca equation on the Kerr background has been achieved. Motivated by these results, in this paper we reconsider Kerr black holes with synchronised Proca hair. The separability of the Proca equation on the Kerr background allows us to examine the stationary Proca clouds in greater detail, in particular their dependence on the different quantum numbers. These stationary clouds occur at a set of existence lines in the Kerr parameter space, from which the black holes with synchronised Proca hair bifurcate. We construct the domain of existence of these black holes, comparing the fundamental states missed in the original study with the first excited states and with the cousin scalar model, giving illustrative examples of Kerr-like and non- Kerr-like BHs. In the vanishing event horizon limit, these hairy black holes connect to the fundamental states of spinning Proca stars, which include the dynamically stable solutions.

Nonlinear Dynamics of Spinning Bosonic Stars: Formation and Stability.

We perform numerical evolutions of the fully nonlinear Einstein (complex, massive) Klein-Gordon and Einstein (complex) Proca systems, to assess the formation and stability of spinning bosonic stars. In the scalar (vector) case these are known as boson (Proca) stars. Firstly, we consider the formation scenario. Starting with constraint-obeying initial data, describing a dilute, axisymmetric cloud of spinning scalar or Proca field, gravitational collapse toward a spinning star occurs, via gravitational cooling. In the scalar case the formation is transient, even for a nonperturbed initial cloud; a nonaxisymmetric instability always develops ejecting all the angular momentum from the scalar star. In the Proca case, by contrast, no instability is observed and the evolutions are compatible with the formation of a spinning Proca star. Secondly, we address the stability of an existing star, a stationary solution of the field equations. In the scalar case, a nonaxisymmetric perturbation develops, collapsing the star to a spinning black hole. No such instability is found in the Proca case, where the star survives large amplitude perturbations; moreover, some excited Proca stars decay to, and remain as, fundamental states. Our analysis suggests bosonic stars have different stability properties in the scalar (vector) case, which we tentatively relate to its toroidal (spheroidal) morphology. A parallelism with instabilities of spinning fluid stars is briefly discussed.

Asymptotically flat spinning scalar, Dirac and Proca stars

Einstein's gravity minimally coupled to free, massive, classical fundamental fields admits particle-like solutions. These are asymptotically flat, everywhere non-singular configurations that realise Wheeler's concept of a geon: a localised lump of self-gravitating energy whose existence is anchored on the non-linearities of general relativity, trivialising in the flat spacetime limit. In [1] the key properties for the existence of these solutions (also referred to as stars or self-gravitating solitons) were discussed – which include a harmonic time dependence in the matter field –, and a comparative analysis of the stars arising in the Einstein-Klein-Gordon, Einstein-Dirac and Einstein-Proca models was performed, for the particular case of static, spherically symmetric spacetimes. In the present work we generalise this analysis for spinning solutions. In particular, the spinning Einstein-Dirac stars are reported here for the first time. Our analysis shows that the high degree of universality observed in the spherical case remains when angular momentum is allowed. Thus, as classical field theory solutions, these self-gravitating solitons are rather insensitive to the fundamental fermionic or bosonic nature of the corresponding field, displaying similar features. We describe some physical properties and, in particular, we observe that the angular momentum of the spinning stars satisfies the quantisation condition J=mN, for all models, where N is the particle number and m is an integer for the bosonic fields and a half-integer for the Dirac field. The way in which this quantisation condition arises, however, is more subtle for the non-zero spin fields.

Head-on collisions and orbital mergers of Proca stars

Proca stars are self-gravitating Bose-Einstein condensates obtained as numerical stationary solutions of the Einstein-(complex)-Proca system. These solitonic can be both stable and form dynamically from generic initial data by the mechanism of gravitational cooling. In this paper we further explore the dynamical properties of these solitonic objects by performing both head-on collisions and orbital mergers of equal mass Proca stars, using fully non-linear numerical evolutions. For the head-on collisions, we show that the end point and the gravitational waveform from these collisions depends on the compactness of the Proca star. Proca stars with sufficiently small compactness collide leaving a stable Proca star remnant. But more compact Proca stars collide to form a transient ${\it hypermassive}$ Proca star, which ends up decaying into a black hole, albeit temporarily surrounded by Proca quasi-bound states. The unstable intermediate stage can leave an imprint in the waveform, making it distinct from that of a head-on collision of black holes. The final quasi-normal ringing matches that of Schwarzschild black hole, even though small deviations may occur, as a signature of sufficiently non-linear and long-lived Proca quasi-bound states. For the orbital mergers, the outcome also depends on the compactness of the stars. For most compact stars, the binary merger forms a Kerr black hole which retains part of the initial orbital angular momentum, being surrounded by a transient Proca field remnant; in cases with lower compactness, the binary merger forms a massive Proca star with angular momentum, but out of equilibrium. As in previous studies of (scalar) boson stars, the angular momentum of such objects appears to converge to zero as a final equilibrium state is approached.

Dynamical formation of Proca stars and quasistationary solitonic objects

We perform fully non-linear numerical simulations within the spherically symmetric Einstein-(complex)Proca system. Starting with Proca field distributions that obey the Hamiltonian, momentum and Gaussian constraints, we show that the self-gravity of the system induces the formation of compact objects, which, for appropriate initial conditions, asymptotically approach stationary soliton-like solutions known as Proca stars. The excess energy of the system is dissipated by the mechanism of \textit{gravitational cooling} in analogy to what occurs in the dynamical formation of scalar boson stars. We investigate the dependence of this process on the phase difference between the real and imaginary parts of the Proca field, as well as on their relative amplitudes. Within the timescales probed by our numerical simulations the process is qualitatively insensitive to either choice: the phase difference and the amplitude ratio are conserved during the evolution. Thus, whereas a truly stationary object is expected to be approached only in the particular case of equal amplitudes and opposite phases, quasi-stationary compact solitonic objects are, nevertheless, formed in the general case.

Asymptotically flat scalar, Dirac and Proca stars: Discrete vs. continuous families of solutions

The existence of localized, approximately stationary, lumps of the classical gravitational and electromagnetic field – geons – was conjectured more than half a century ago. If one insists on exact stationarity, topologically trivial configurations in electro-vacuum are ruled out by no-go theorems for solitons. But stationary, asymptotically flat geons found a realization in scalar-vacuum, where everywhere non-singular, localized field lumps exist, known as (scalar) boson stars. Similar geons have subsequently been found in Einstein–Dirac theory and, more recently, in Einstein–Proca theory. We identify the common conditions that allow these solutions, which may also exist for other spin fields. Moreover, we present a comparison of spherically symmetric geons for the spin 0,1/2 and 1, emphasizing the mathematical similarities and clarifying the physical differences, particularly between the bosonic and fermionic cases. We clarify that for the fermionic case, Pauli's exclusion principle prevents a continuous family of solutions for a fixed field mass; rather only a discrete set exists, in contrast with the bosonic case.

Proca stars with nonminimal coupling to the Einstein tensor

We investigate Proca star (PS) solutions, namely boson star (BS) type solutions for a complex vector field with mass and nonminimal coupling to the Einstein tensor. Irrespective of the existence of nonminimal coupling, PS solutions are mini-BS type, but the inclusion of it changes properties. For positive nonminimal coupling parameters, PS solutions do not exist for central amplitudes above some certain value due to the singular behavior of the evolution equations. For negative nonminimal coupling parameters, there is no such singular behavior but sufficiently enhanced numerical resolutions are requested for larger amplitudes. Irrespective of the sign of the nonzero nonminimal coupling parameter, PSs with the maximal Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass and Noether charge are gravitationally bound. Properties of PSs are very similar to those of BSs in scalar-tensor theories including healthy higher-derivative terms.

Iron Kα line of Proca stars

X-ray reflection spectroscopy can be a powerful tool to test the nature of astrophysical black holes. Extending previous work on Kerr black holes with scalar hair [1] and on boson stars [2], here we study whether astrophysical black hole candidates may be horizonless, self-gravitating, vector Bose-Einstein condensates, known as Proca stars [3]. We find that observations with current X-ray missions can only provide weak constraints and rule out solely Proca stars with low compactness. There are two reasons. First, at the moment we do not know the geometry of the corona, and therefore the uncertainty in the emissivity profile limits the ability to constrain the background metric. Second, the photon number count is low even in the case of a bright black hole binary, and we cannot have a precise measurement of the spectrum.

Proca Q balls and their coupling to gravity

Extending the Proca Lagrangian of a massive complex-valued vector field by self-interaction potential, we construct a large class of spherically symmetric solutions in flat Minkowski background as well as in the self-gravitating case. Our solutions encompass Proca Q-balls and Proca stars known in the literature, but present new features and go beyond the limited region of parameter space charted so far. A special emphasis is set to the domain of existence of the solutions in relation with the coupling constants of the potential and to the critical phenomena limiting this domain.

Quasistationary solutions of scalar fields around collapsing self-interacting boson stars

There is increasing numerical evidence that scalar fields can form long-lived quasi-bound states around black holes. Recent perturbative and numerical relativity calculations have provided further confirmation in a variety of physical systems, including both static and accreting black holes, and collapsing fermionic stars. In this work we investigate this issue yet again in the context of gravitationally unstable boson stars leading to black hole formation. We build a large sample of spherically symmetric initial models, both stable and unstable, incorporating a self-interaction potential with a quartic term. The three different outcomes of unstable models, namely migration to the stable branch, total dispersion, and collapse to a black hole, are also present for self-interacting boson stars. Our simulations show that for black-hole-forming models, a scalar-field remnant is found outside the black-hole horizon, oscillating at a different frequency than that of the original boson star. This result is in good agreement with recent spherically symmetric simulations of unstable Proca stars collapsing to black holes.

Numerical evolutions of spherical Proca stars

Vector boson stars, or $\textit{Proca stars}$, have been recently obtained as fully non-linear numerical solutions of the Einstein-(complex)-Proca system. These are self-gravitating, everywhere non-singular, horizonless Bose-Einstein condensates of a massive vector field, which resemble in many ways, but not all, their scalar cousins, the well-known (scalar) $\textit{boson stars}$. In this paper we report fully-non linear numerical evolutions of Proca stars, focusing on the spherically symmetric case, with the goal of assessing their stability and the end-point of the evolution of the unstable stars. Previous results from linear perturbation theory indicate the separation between stable and unstable configurations occurs at the solution with maximal ADM mass. Our simulations confirm this result. Evolving numerically unstable solutions, we find, depending on the sign of the binding energy of the solution and on the perturbation, three different outcomes: $(i)$ migration to the stable branch, $(ii)$ total dispersion of the scalar field, or $(iii)$ collapse to a Schwarzschild black hole. In the latter case, a long lived Proca field remnant -- a $\textit{Proca wig}$ -- composed by quasi-bound states, may be seen outside the horizon after its formation, with a life-time that scales inversely with the Proca mass. We comment on the similarities/differences with the scalar case as well as with neutron stars.

Charged Proca stars

In this paper, we study gauged solutions associated to a massive vector field representing a spin-one condensate, namely the Proca field. We focus on regular spherically-symmetric solutions which we construct either using a self-interaction potential or general relativity in order to glue the solutions together. We start generating non-gravitating solutions, so-called, Proca Q-balls and charged Proca Q-balls. Then, we turn-on backreaction on the metric, allowing gravity to hold together the Proca condensate, to study the so-called Proca stars, charged Proca stars, Proca Q-stars and charged Proca Q-stars.

Asymptotically anti–de Sitter Proca stars

We show that complex, massive spin-1 fields minimally coupled to Einstein's gravity with a negative cosmological constant, admit asymptotically anti-de Sitter self-gravitating solutions. Focusing on 4-dimensional spacetimes, we start by obtaining analytical solutions in the test-field limit, where the Proca field equations can be solved in a fixed anti-de Sitter background, and then find fully non-linear solutions numerically. These solutions are a natural extension of the recently found asymptotically flat Proca stars and share similar properties with scalar boson stars. In particular, we show that they are stable against spherically symmetric linear perturbations for a range of fundamental frequencies limited by their point of maximum mass. We finish with an overview of the behavior of Proca stars in $5$ dimensions.

Kerr black holes with Proca hair

Bekenstein proved that in Einstein's gravity minimally coupled to one (or many) real, Abelian, Proca field, stationary black holes (BHs) cannot have Proca hair. Dropping Bekenstein's assumption that matter inherits spacetime symmetries, we show this model admits asymptotically flat, stationary, axi-symmetric, regular on and outside an event horizon BHs with Proca hair, for an even number of real (or an arbitrary number of complex) Proca fields. To establish it, we start by showing that a test, complex Proca field can form bound states, with real frequency, around Kerr BHs: stationary Proca clouds. These states exist at the threshold of superradiance. It was conjectured in [, ], that the existence of such clouds at the linear level implies the existence of a new family of BH solutions at the nonlinear level. We confirm this expectation and explicitly construct examples of such Kerr BHs with Proca hair (KBHsPH). For a single complex Proca field, these BHs form a countable number of families with three continuous parameters (ADM mass, ADM angular momentum and Noether charge). They branch off from the Kerr solutions that can support stationary Proca clouds and reduce to Proca stars [] when the horizon size vanishes. We present the domain of existence of one family of KBHsPH, as well as its phase space in terms of ADM quantities. Some physical properties of the solutions are discussed; in particular, and in contrast with Kerr BHs with scalar hair, some spacetime regions can be counter-rotating with respect to the horizon. We further establish a no-Proca-hair theorem for static, spherically symmetric BHs but allowing the complex Proca field to have a harmonic time dependence, which shows BHs with Proca hair in this model require rotation and have no static limit. KBHsPH are also disconnected from Kerr–Newman BHs with a real, massless vector field.

Proca stars: Gravitating Bose–Einstein condensates of massive spin 1 particles

We establish that massive complex Abelian vector fields (mass μ) can form gravitating solitons, when minimally coupled to Einstein's gravity. Such Proca stars (PSs) have a stationary, everywhere regular and asymptotically flat geometry. The Proca field, however, possesses a harmonic time dependence (frequency w), realizing Wheeler's concept of geons for an Abelian spin 1 field. We obtain PSs with both a spherically symmetric (static) and an axially symmetric (stationary) line element. The latter form a countable number of families labelled by an integer m∈Z+. PSs, like (scalar) boson stars, carry a conserved Noether charge, and are akin to the latter in many ways. In particular, both types of stars exist for a limited range of frequencies and there is a maximal ADM mass, Mmax, attained for an intermediate frequency. For spherically symmetric PSs (rotating PSs with m=1,2,3), Mmax≃1.058MPl2/μ (Mmax≃1.568,2.337,3.247MPl2/μ), slightly larger values than those for (mini-)boson stars. We establish perturbative stability for a subset of solutions in the spherical case and anticipate a similar conclusion for fundamental modes in the rotating case. The discovery of PSs opens many avenues of research, reconsidering five decades of work on (scalar) boson stars, in particular as possible dark matter candidates.