Dirichlet walls and the end of time

Hanako Helton; Gary T. Horowitz; Donald Marolf

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arXiv · 2606.05505

Dirichlet walls and the end of time

Hanako Helton·Gary T. Horowitz·Donald Marolf

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Abstract

We study evolution in Einstein-Hilbert gravity with Dirichlet boundary conditions imposed on a finite surface. We argue that there are open sets of initial data where such evolutions terminate at finite times due to singularities that reach the boundary. In any dimension, the simplest such examples occur in cosmologies. However, in 2+1 dimensions we also show that Dirichlet walls initially outside a BTZ black hole can fall through the horizon, and that this also leads to generic singularities. A similar construction in higher dimensions leads to trapped surfaces that reach the wall, though the end result of such evolutions is more difficult to study.

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Hanako Helton, Gary T. Horowitz, Donald Marolf. 2026-06-03. Dirichlet walls and the end of time. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.05505

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