Self-Similar Collapse Of Scalar Field Research Articles

Self-similar scalar field collapse

A spherically symmetric collapsing scalar field model is discussed with a dissipative fluid which includes a heat flux. This vastly general matter distribution is analyzed at the expense of a high degree of symmetry in the space-time, that of conformal flatness and self-similarity. Indeed collapsing models terminating into a curvature singularity can be obtained. The formation of black holes or the occurrence of naked singularities depends on the initial collapsing profiles.

Letter: Self-Similar Collapse of Scalar Field with Plane Symmetry

Plane symmetric self-similar solutions to Einstein's four-dimensional theory of gravity are studied and all such solutions are given analytically in closed form. The local and global properties of these solutions are investigated and it is shown that some of the solutions can be interpreted as representing gravitational collapse of the scalar field. During the collapse, trapped surfaces are never developed. As a result, no black hole is formed. Although the collapse always ends with spacetime singularities, it is found that these singularities are spacelike and not naked.

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.

Self-similar scalar field collapse: Naked singularities and critical behavior.

Homothetic scalar field collapse is considered in this article. By making a suitable choice of variables the equations are reduced to an autonomous system. Then using a combination of numerical and analytic techniques it is shown that there are two classes of solutions. The first consists of solutions with a non-singular origin in which the scalar field collapses and disperses again. There is a singularity at one point of these solutions, however it is not visible to observers at finite radius. The second class of solutions includes both black holes and naked singularities with a critical evolution (which is neither) interpolating between these two extremes. The properties of these solutions are discussed in detail. The paper also contains some speculation about the significance of self-similarity in recent numerical studies.