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arXiv · 1611.06922

A (gravitational) toy story

W. Barreto·H. P. de Oliveira·B. Rodriguez-Mueller
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Abstract

Frequently in Physics, insights and conclusions can be drawn from simple, idealized models. The discovery of critical behavior in the gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field leads to the simulation of binary black holes, from its coalescence to merging and ringdown. We refined a toy model to explore black hole formation as these events unfold to revisit the instability of a gravitational kink. We confirmed a conjecture related to a mass gap, for critical behavior at the threshold of black hole formation. We find a critical exponent twice the standard value. Surprisingly, this larger critical exponent is also present in the multiple critical behavior for the black hole formation from a massless scalar field in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes. What is the meaning of this mass gap? Does it have physical relevance?

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W. Barreto, H. P. de Oliveira, B. Rodriguez-Mueller. 2017-02-06. A (gravitational) toy story. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0218271817500961

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