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.     

Spherically symmetric collapse in quantum gravity

The problem of classical singularities is revised on the basis of the quantum-gravity effective equations. We find a simple rule for establishing the Birkhoff theorem in spherically symmetric problems. All exact solutions of the lagrangian with C²_αβγσ are obtained. Spherically symmetric collapse of the thin null shell of mass M is considered in the framework of a local theory describing vacuum polarization effects. The boundary-value problem is set and the asymptotic solution is obtained. It is found that the shell collapses to r = 0 without the rise of a singularity, and begins expanding. The global behaviour of the solution is obtained for small M. For large M it is conjectured that the event horizon does not form, and the apparent horizon is closed. An object forms, possessing the observable properties of a black hole, but living a finite time.     

Null Fluid Collapse in Rastall Theory of Gravity

A Vaidya spacetime is considered for gravitational collapse of a type II fluid in the context of the Rastall theory of gravity. For a linear equation of state for the fluid profiles, the conditions under which the dynamical evolution of the collapse can give rise to the formation of a naked singularity are examined. It is shown that depending on the model parameters, strong curvature, naked singularities would arise as exact solutions to the Rastall's field equations. The allowed values of these parameters satisfy certain conditions on the physical reliability, nakedness, and the curvature strength of the singularity. It turns out that Rastall gravity, in comparison to general relativity, provides a wider class of physically reasonable spacetimes that admit both locally and globally naked singularities.     

Black holes without singularities

The conventional interpretation of the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems is that gravitational collapse, signified by the presence of a closed trapped surface, generally leads to the formation of a singularity. Consideration is given here to an alternative interpretation according to which collapse scenarios may give rise, not to singularities, but to chronology violation instead. An example is given of a singularity-free, chronology-violating space-time with a (non-achronal) closed trapped surface. In a large class of singularity-free space-times, the presence of a closed trapped surface, achronal or not, necessitates a violation of chronology. Moreover, all closed trapped surfaces and chronology violations are confined to black holes; weak cosmic censorship must hold in the sense that the region of the space-time visible from infinity is globally hyperbolic.Expanded version of essay given Honorable Mention in the 1986 Gravity Foundation Award.     

Gravitational Collapse in Quantum Einstein Gravity

The existence of spacetime singularities is one of the biggest problems of nowadays physics. According to Penrose, each physical singularity should be covered by a “cosmic censor” which prevents any external observer from perceiving their existence. However, classical models describing the gravitational collapse usually results in strong curvature singularities, which can also remain “naked” for a finite amount of advanced time. This proceedings studies the modifications induced by asymptotically safe gravity on the gravitational collapse of generic Vaidya spacetimes. It will be shown that, for any possible choice of the mass function, quantum gravity makes the internal singularity gravitationally weak, thus allowing a continuous extension of the spacetime beyond the singularity.     

Quantum evaporation of a naked singularity

We investigate here quantum effects in gravitational collapse of a scalar field model which classically leads to a naked singularity. We show that nonperturbative semiclassical modifications near the singularity, based on loop quantum gravity, give rise to a strong outward flux of energy. This leads to the dissolution of the collapsing cloud before the singularity can form. Quantum gravitational effects thus censor naked singularities by avoiding their formation. Further, quantum gravity induced mass flux has a distinct feature which may lead to a novel observable signature in astrophysical bursts.     

Magnetic charge,black holes,and cosmic censorship

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 M² > Q³ + P². 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.     

Singularities,trapped sets,and cosmic censorship in asymptotically flat space-times

We show that space-time is future asymptotically predictable from a regular partial Cauchy provided that singularities are causally preceded by trapped sets. Future asymptotic predictability is a formal statement of cosmic censorship in asymptotically flat space-times. A regular partial Cauchy surface means that singularities in gravitational collapse can arise only from regular initial data. Our result confirms a supposition by Hawking that singularities forced by singularity theorems cannot be naked.     

Investigation of the problem of singularities in general relativity

Recently Addy and Datta have obtained a linearized solution for isentropic motions of a perfect fluid by assigning Cauchy data on the hypersurfacex ⁴=0 and by imposing a restriction on the equation of state. In the present paper we pursue this study and discuss the problem of singularities from the standpoint of a local observer for which a singularity is defined as a state with an infinite proper rest mass density. It is shown that for a closed universe with any distribution of matter whatsoever there occurred a singularity in the past in the nonrotating parts of the universe and it must recur in the future. Furthermore, the collapse of a rotating fluid to a singularity seems inevitable when the relativistic equation of state is considered.     

Singularities in general relativity

The problem of singularities is examined from the stand-point of a local observer. A singularity is defined as a state with an infinite proper rest mass density. The approach consists of three steps: (i) The complete system of equations describing a non-symmetric motion of a perfect fluid under assumption of adiabatic thermodynamic processes and of no release of nuclear energy is reduced to six Einstein field equations and their four first integrals for six remaining unknown componentsgik. (ii) A differential relation for the behavior of the rest mass density is deduced. It shows that any inhomogeneity and anisotropy in the distribution and motion of a non-rotating ideal fluid accelerates collapse to a singularity which will be reached in a finite proper time. Collapse is also inevitable in a rotating fluid in the case of extremely high pressure when the relativistic limit of the equation of state must be applied. In the case of a lower or zero pressure the relation does not give an unambiguous answer if the matter is rotating. (iii) The influence of rotation on the motion of an incoherent matter is investigated. Some qualitative arguments are given for a possible existence of a narrow class of singularity-free solutions of Einstein equations. Assuming rotational symmetry the Einstein partial differential equations together with their first integrals are reduced to a system of simultaneous ordinary differential equations suitable for numerical integration. Without integrating this system the existence of the class of singularity-free solutions is confirmed and exactly delimited. These solutions, representing a new general relativistic effect, are, however, of no importance for the application in cosmology or astrophysics. It is proved that in all the other cases interesting from the point of view of application the occurrence of a point singularity in incoherent matter with a rotational symmetry is inevitable even if the rotation is present.Read on 15 May 1970 at the Gwatt Seminar on the Bearings of Topology upon General Relativity     

Rotating Dilaton Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions

We report a three parameter family of solutions for dilaton gravity in 2+1 dimensions with finite mass and finite angular momentum. These solutions are obtained by a compactification of vacuum solutions in 3+1 dimensions with cylindrical symmetry. One class of solutions corresponds to conical singularities and the other leads to curvature singularities.     

Naked Singularities Formation in the Gravitational Collapse of Barotropic Spherical Fluids

The gravitational collapse of spherical, barotropic perfect fluids is analyzed here. For the first time, the final state of these systems is studied without resorting to simplifying assumptions - such as self-similarity - using a new approach based on non-linear o.d.e. techniques, and formation of naked singularities is shown to occur for solutions such that the mass function is analytic in a neighborhood of the spacetime singularity.     

Compact stars in Eddington inspired gravity

A new, Eddington inspired theory of gravity was recently proposed by Ba?ados and Ferreira. It is equivalent to general relativity in vacuum, but differs from it inside matter. This viable, one-parameter theory was shown to avoid cosmological singularities and turns out to lead to many other exciting new features that we report here. First, for a positive coupling parameter, the field equations have a dramatic impact on the collapse of dust, and do not lead to singularities. We further find that the theory supports stable, compact pressureless stars made of perfect fluid, which provide interesting models of self-gravitating dark matter. Finally, we show that the mere existence of relativistic stars imposes a strong, near optimal constraint on the coupling parameter, which can even be improved by observations of the moment of inertia of the double pulsar.     

Minimum size of charged particles in general relativity

Spherical charged matter distributions are examined in a coordinate-free manner within the framework of general relativity. Irrespective of models chosen to describe the interior structure of a charged particle, it is found that the latter's total gravitational mass is positive definite, being finite only when there exists a lower bound for its invariant extension. For a simple choice of matter and charge distributions it is then shown that there is a minimum invariant size for the particle, below which no solution of the field equations exists, the matter density becoming negative and the spacetime developing an intrinsic singularity in the exterior of the particle for radii less than this minimum. A mass renormalization is derived, valid at the moment of time symmetry, which relates the particle's total mass to its charge, bare mass and invariant extension. Our results are compared with those obtained previously by Arnowitt, Deser and Misner, who consider the simpler distribution of a charged spherical shell. Qualitatively, the two situations share the same features. However, in the more realistic spherical distributions the formulae are correspondingly more complicated, and the minimum extension is found to be greater than that of the shell, as one might expect on physical grounds. Moreover, the correspondence between negative valued matter distributions and intrinsic singularities was not evident in the shell case.     

Exact self-gravitating N-body motion in the CGHS model

In the asymptotically flat two-dimensional dilaton gravity, we present an N-body particle action which has a dilaton coupled mass term for the exact solubility. This gives nonperturbative exact solutions for the N-body self-gravitating system, so the infalling particles form a black hole and their trajectories are exactly described. In our two-dimensional case, the critical mass for the formation of black holes does not exist, so even a single particle forms a black hole. The infalling particles give additional time-like singularities in addition to the space-like black hole singularity. However, the latter singularities can be properly cloaked by the future horizons within some conditions.     

Gravitational collapse: The story so far

An outstanding problem in gravitation theory and relativistic astrophysics today is to understand the final outcome of an endless gravitational collapse. Such a continual collapse would take place when stars more massive than few times the mass of the sun collapse under their own gravity on exhausting their nuclear fuel. According to the general theory of relativity, this results either in a black hole, or a naked singularity — which can communicate with far away observers in the universe. While black holes are (almost) being detected and are increasingly used to model high energy astrophysical phenomena, naked singularities have turned into a topic of active discussion, aimed at understanding their structure and implications. Recent developments here are reviewed, indicating future directions.     

Exact self-gravitating N-body motion in the CGHS model

In the asymptotically flat two-dimensional dilaton gravity, we present an N-body particle action which has a dilaton coupled mass term for the exact solubility. This gives nonperturbative exact solutions for the N-body self-gravitating system, so the infalling particles form a black hole and their trajectories are exactly described. In our two-dimensional case, the critical mass for the formation of black holes does not exist, so even a single particle forms a black hole. The infalling particles give additional time-like singularities in addition to the space-like black hole singularity. However, the latter singularities can be properly cloaked by the future horizons within some conditions.     

Two-loop back-reaction in 2D dilaton gravity

We calculate the two-loop quantum corrections, including the back-reaction of the Hawking radiation, to the one-loop effective metric in a unitary gauge quantization of the CGHS model of 2D dilaton gravity. The corresponding evaporating black hole solutions are analyzed, and consistent semi-classical geometries appear in the weak-coupling region of the space-time when the width of the matter pulse is larger then the short-distance cutoff. A consistent semi-classical geometry also appears in the limit of a shock-wave matter. The Hawking radiation flux receives non-thermal corrections such that it vanishes for late times and the total radiated mass is finite. There are no static remnants for matter pulses of finite width, although a BPP type static remnant appears in the shock-wave limit. Semi-classical geometries without curvature singularities can be obtained as well. Our results indicate that higher-order loop corrections can remove the singularities encountered in the one-loop solutions.     

New cosmological models in the five-dimensional space-time-mass gravity theory

A new class of vacuum solutions in the new five-dimensional space-timemass gravity theory is found. These new cosmological models describe expanding universes without a big bang singularity, and the fifth dimension of these models shrinks as they expand.     

Investigation of singularities in general relativity

The problem of singularities for a non-symmetric and isentropic motion of a perfect fluid under the assumption of adiabatic thermodynamic processes is investigated from the standpoint of a local observer. It is shown that, whatever the distribution of matter might be, there occurred a singularity in the past in the non-rotating parts of the universe and it must occur again in the future if the universe is closed. It is further shown that the occurrence of a singularity in a rotating fluid seems inevitable, when the relativistic equation of state is considered, because of extremely high concentration of rest mass, though the possibility of its avoidance may not be ignored.