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Christoph Kehle

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph Kehle.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Weakly turbulent dynamics on Schwarzschild-AdS black hole spacetimes

In the presence of confinement, small-data solutions to nonlinear dispersive equations can exhibit a gradual energy transfer from low to high frequencies, a mechanism driving the emergence of weakly turbulent dynamics. We show that such a forward energy transfer, manifested as arbitrary inflation of higher order Sobolev norms, occurs for small-data solutions of a quasilinear cubic wave equation on the Schwarzschild-AdS black hole exterior with Dirichlet conditions at infinity, for generic values of the mass parameter. This result is motivated by the question of nonlinear stability or instability of Schwarzschild-AdS as a solution to the Einstein vacuum equations, but the strategy of proof applies to a broader class of backgrounds exhibiting stable trapping of null geodesics. As an application, we obtain the analogous norm inflation statement on $\mathbb R \times \mathbb S^3_+$ for generic perturbations of the round metric on the hemisphere $\mathbb S^3_+$ preserving the trapping structure at the boundary.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

The moduli space of dynamical spherically symmetric black hole spacetimes and the extremal threshold

In this paper, we give a complete description of the black hole threshold, locally near the Reissner-Nordström family, in the infinite-dimensional moduli space $\mathfrak M$ of dynamical spherically symmetric solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell-neutral scalar field system. In a neighborhood of the full Reissner-Nordström family in $\mathfrak M$, we prove the following: (i) Any solution that forms a black hole eventually decays to a Reissner-Nordström black hole. (ii) Any solution that fails to collapse into a black hole eventually becomes superextremal along null infinity and exists globally in the domain of dependence of the bifurcate characteristic initial data. (iii) The subset of this neighborhood consisting of black hole solutions admits a $C^1$ foliation by hypersurfaces of constant final charge-to-mass ratio, up to and including extremality. (iv) The mutual boundary between the set of black hole solutions and noncollapsing solutions, i.e., the black hole threshold, is the extremal leaf of the foliation. Black holes which are not on the threshold are asymptotically subextremal. Our quantitative control of near-threshold solutions allows us to prove "universal" scaling laws for the location of the event horizon and its final area and temperature (surface gravity), with critical exponent $\frac 12$. Moreover, we show that the celebrated Aretakis instability is activated for an open and dense set of threshold solutions and that generic near-threshold subextremal black holes experience a transient horizon instability on the timescale of their inverse final temperature.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

Nonlinear stability of extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes in spherical symmetry

In this paper, we prove the codimension-one nonlinear asymptotic stability of the extremal Reissner-Nordström family of black holes in the spherically symmetric Einstein-Maxwell-neutral scalar field model, up to and including the event horizon. More precisely, we show that there exists a teleologically defined, codimension-one "submanifold" $\mathfrak M_\mathrm{stab}$ of the moduli space of spherically symmetric characteristic data for the Einstein-Maxwell-scalar field system lying close to the extremal Reissner-Nordström family, such that any data in $\mathfrak M_\mathrm{stab}$ evolve into a solution with the following properties as time goes to infinity: (i) the metric decays to a member of the extremal Reissner-Nordström family uniformly up to the event horizon, (ii) the scalar field decays to zero pointwise and in an appropriate energy norm, (iii) the first translation-invariant ingoing null derivative of the scalar field is approximately constant on the event horizon $\mathcal H^+$, (iv) for "generic" data, the second translation-invariant ingoing null derivative of the scalar field grows linearly along the event horizon. Due to the coupling of the scalar field to the geometry via the Einstein equations, suitable components of the Ricci tensor exhibit non-decay and growth phenomena along the event horizon. Points (i) and (ii) above reflect the "stability" of the extremal Reissner-Nordström family and points (iii) and (iv) verify the presence of the celebrated "Aretakis instability" for the linear wave equation on extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes in the full nonlinear Einstein-Maxwell-scalar field model.

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arXiv2024

Discretely self-similar exterior-naked singularities for the Einstein-scalar field system

The problem of constructing naked singularities in general relativity can be naturally divided into two parts: (i) the construction of the region exterior to the past light cone of the singularity, extending all the way to (an incomplete) future null infinity and yielding the nakedness property (what we will call exterior-naked singularity regions); (ii) attaching an interior fill-in that ensures that the singularity arises from regular initial data. This problem has been resolved for the spherically symmetric Einstein-scalar field system by Christodoulou, but his construction, based on a continuously self-similar ansatz, requires that both the exterior and the interior regions are mildly irregular on the past cone of the singularity. On the other hand, numerical works suggest that there exist naked singularity spacetimes with discrete self-similarity arising from smooth initial data. In this paper, we revisit part (i) of the problem and we construct exterior-naked singularity regions with discretely self-similar profiles which are smooth on the past cone of the singularity. We show that the scalar field remains uniformly bounded, but the singularity is characterized by the infinite oscillations of the scalar field and the mass aspect ratio. (Our examples require however that the mass aspect ratio is uniformly small, and thus the solutions are distinct from the exterior regions of the numerical examples.) It remains an open problem to smoothly attach interior fill-ins as in (ii) to our solutions, which would yield a new construction of naked singularity spacetimes, now arising from smooth initial data.

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arXiv2024

Gravitational collapse to extremal black holes and the third law of black hole thermodynamics

We construct examples of black hole formation from regular, one-ended asymptotically flat Cauchy data for the Einstein-Maxwell-charged scalar field system in spherical symmetry which are exactly isometric to extremal Reissner-Nordström after a finite advanced time along the event horizon. Moreover, in each of these examples the apparent horizon of the black hole coincides with that of a Schwarzschild solution at earlier advanced times. In particular, our result can be viewed as a definitive disproof of the "third law of black hole thermodynamics." The main step in the construction is a novel $C^k$ characteristic gluing procedure, which interpolates between a light cone in Minkowski space and a Reissner-Nordström event horizon with specified charge to mass ratio $e/M$. Our setup is inspired by the recent work of Aretakis-Czimek-Rodnianski on perturbative characteristic gluing for the Einstein vacuum equations. However, our construction is fundamentally nonperturbative and is based on a finite collection of scalar field pulses which are modulated by the Borsuk-Ulam theorem.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2024

Extremal black hole formation as a critical phenomenon

In this paper, we prove that extremal black holes arise on the threshold of gravitational collapse. More precisely, we construct smooth one-parameter families of smooth, spherically symmetric solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell-Vlasov system which interpolate between dispersion and collapse and for which the critical solution is an extremal black hole. Physically, these solutions can be understood as beams of gravitationally self-interacting collisionless charged particles fired into Minkowski space from past infinity. Depending on the precise value of the parameter, we show that the Vlasov matter either disperses due to the combined effects of angular momentum and electromagnetic repulsion, or undergoes gravitational collapse. At the critical value of the parameter, an extremal Reissner-Nordström black hole is formed. No naked singularities occur as the extremal threshold is crossed. We call this critical phenomenon extremal critical collapse and the present work constitutes the first rigorous result on the black hole formation threshold in general relativity.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2023

Event horizon gluing and black hole formation in vacuum: the very slowly rotating case

In this paper, we initiate the study of characteristic event horizon gluing in vacuum. More precisely, we prove that Minkowski space can be glued along a null hypersurface to any round symmetry sphere in a Schwarzschild black hole spacetime as a $C^2$ solution of the Einstein vacuum equations. The method of proof is fundamentally nonperturbative and is closely related to our previous work in spherical symmetry [KU22] and Christodoulou's short pulse method [Chr09]. We also make essential use of the perturbative characteristic gluing results of Aretakis-Czimek-Rodnianski [ACR21a; CR22]. As an immediate corollary of our methods, we obtain characteristic gluing of Minkowski space to the event horizon of very slowly rotating Kerr with prescribed mass $M$ and specific angular momentum $a$. Using our characteristic gluing results, we construct examples of vacuum gravitational collapse to very slowly rotating Kerr black holes in finite advanced time with prescribed $M$ and $0\le |a|\ll M$. Our construction also yields the first example of a spacelike singularity arising from one-ended, asymptotically flat gravitational collapse in vacuum.

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arXiv2022

Strong Cosmic Censorship in the presence of matter: the decisive effect of horizon oscillations on the black hole interior geometry

Motivated by the Strong Cosmic Censorship Conjecture in the presence of matter, we study the Einstein equations coupled with a charged/massive scalar field with spherically symmetric characteristic data relaxing to a Reissner-Nordström event horizon. Contrary to the vacuum case, the relaxation rate is conjectured to be slow (non-integrable), opening the possibility that the matter fields and the metric coefficients blow up in amplitude at the Cauchy horizon, not just in energy. We show that whether this blow-up in amplitude occurs or not depends on a novel oscillation condition on the event horizon which determines whether or not a resonance is excited dynamically. If the oscillation condition is satisfied, then the resonance is not excited and we show boundedness and continuous extendibility of the matter fields and the metric across the Cauchy horizon. If the oscillation condition is violated, then by the combined effect of slow decay and the resonance being excited, we show that the massive uncharged scalar field blows up in amplitude. In our companion paper, we show that in the latter case a novel null contraction singularity forms at the Cauchy horizon, across which the metric is not continuously extendible in the usual sense. Heuristic arguments in the physics literature indicate that the oscillation condition should be satisfied generically on the event horizon. If these heuristics are true, then our result falsifies the $C^0$-formulation of Strong Cosmic Censorship by means of oscillations.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2022

On the prescribed negative Gauss curvature problem for graphs

We revisit the problem of prescribing negative Gauss curvature for graphs embedded in $\mathbb R^{n+1}$ when $n\geq 2$. The problem reduces to solving a fully nonlinear Monge-Ampère equation that becomes hyperbolic in the case of negative curvature. We show that the linearization around a graph with Lorentzian Hessian can be written as a geometric wave equation for a suitable Lorentzian metric in dimensions $n\geq 3$. Using energy estimates for the linearized equation and a version of the Nash-Moser iteration, we show the local solvability for the fully nonlinear equation. Finally, we discuss some obstructions and perspectives on the global problem.

math.AP↗
arXiv2022

Uniqueness of solutions to nonlinear Schrödinger equations from their zeros

We show novel types of uniqueness and rigidity results for Schrödinger equations in either the nonlinear case or in the presence of a complex-valued potential. As our main result we obtain that the trivial solution $u=0$ is the only solution for which the assumptions $u(t=0)\vert_{D}=0, u(t=T)\vert_{D}=0$ hold, where $D\subset \mathbb{R}^d$ are certain subsets of codimension one. In particular, $D$ is discrete for dimension $d=1$. Our main theorem can be seen as a nonlinear analogue of discrete Fourier uniqueness pairs such as the celebrated Radchenko--Viazovska formula, and the uniqueness result of the second author and M. Sousa for powers of integers. As an additional application, we deduce rigidity results for solutions to some semilinear elliptic equations from their zeros.

math.AP↗
arXiv2021

Diophantine approximation as Cosmic Censor for Kerr-AdS black holes

The purpose of this paper is to show an unexpected connection between Diophantine approximation and the behavior of waves on black hole interiors with negative cosmological constant $Λ<0$ and explore the consequences of this for the Strong Cosmic Censorship conjecture in general relativity. We study linear scalar perturbations $ψ$ of Kerr-AdS solving $\Box_gψ-\frac{2}{3}Λψ=0$ with reflecting boundary conditions at infinity. Understanding the behavior of $ψ$ at the Cauchy horizon corresponds to a linear analog of the problem of Strong Cosmic Censorship. Our main result shows that if the dimensionless black hole parameters mass $\mathfrak m = M \sqrt{-Λ}$ and angular momentum $\mathfrak a = a \sqrt{-Λ}$ satisfy a certain non-Diophantine condition, then perturbations $ψ$ arising from generic smooth initial data blow up at the Cauchy horizon. The proof crucially relies on a novel resonance phenomenon between stable trapping on the black hole exterior and the poles of the interior scattering operator that gives rise to a small divisors problem. Our result is in stark contrast to the result on Reissner-Nordström-AdS (arxiv:1812.06142) as well as to previous work on the analogous problem for $Λ\geq 0$. As a result of the non-Diophantine condition, the set of parameters $\mathfrak m, \mathfrak a$ for which we show blow-up forms a Baire-generic but Lebesgue-exceptional subset of all parameters below the Hawking-Reall bound. On the other hand, we conjecture that for a set of parameters $\mathfrak m, \mathfrak a $ which is Baire-exceptional but Lebesgue-generic, all linear scalar perturbations remain bounded at the Cauchy horizon. This suggests that the validity of the $C^0$-formulation of Strong Cosmic Censorship for $Λ<0$ may change in a spectacular way according to the notion of genericity imposed.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2021

Blowup of the local energy of linear waves at the Reissner-Nordström-AdS Cauchy horizon

We show that generic linear perturbations $ψ$ solving $\Box_g ψ+ \fracα{l^2} ψ=0$ on Reissner-Nordström-AdS black holes have infinite local energy at the Cauchy horizon. Combined with the result of arXiv:1812.06142 that such perturbations $ψ$ remain uniformly bounded and extend continuously across the Cauchy horizon, this settles the linear analog of the Strong Cosmic Censorship conjecture for Reissner-Nordström-AdS: the $C^0$-formulation is false but the $H^1$-formulation is true.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2019

Uniform boundedness and continuity at the Cauchy horizon for linear waves on Reissner-Nordström-AdS black holes

Motivated by the Strong Cosmic Censorship Conjecture for asymptotically AdS spacetimes, we initiate the study of massive scalar waves satisfying $\Box_g ψ- μψ=0$ on the interior of Anti-de Sitter (AdS) black holes. We prescribe initial data on a spacelike hypersurface of a Reissner--Nordström--AdS black hole and impose Dirichlet (reflecting) boundary conditions at infinity. It was known previously that such waves only decay at a sharp logarithmic rate (in contrast to a polynomial rate as in the asymptotically flat regime) in the black hole exterior. In view of this slow decay, the question of uniform boundedness in the black hole interior and continuity at the Cauchy horizon has remained up to now open. We answer this question in the affirmative.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2018

A scattering theory for linear waves on the interior of Reissner-Nordström black holes

We develop a scattering theory for the linear wave equation $\Box_g ψ= 0$ on the interior of Reissner-Nordström black holes, connecting the fixed frequency picture to the physical space picture. Our main result gives the existence, uniqueness and asymptotic completeness of finite energy scattering states. The past and future scattering states are represented as suitable traces of the solution $ψ$ on the bifurcate event and Cauchy horizons. The heart of the proof is to show that after separation of variables one has uniform boundedness of the reflection and transmission coefficients of the resulting radial o.d.e. over all frequencies $ω$ and $\ell$. This is non-trivial because the natural $T$ conservation law is sign-indefinite in the black hole interior. In the physical space picture, our results imply that the Cauchy evolution from the event horizon to the Cauchy horizon is a Hilbert space isomorphism, where the past (resp. future) Hilbert space is defined by the finiteness of the degenerate $T$ energy fluxes on both components of the event (resp. Cauchy) horizon. Finally, we prove that, in contrast to the above, for a generic set of cosmological constants $Λ$, there is no analogous finite $T$ energy scattering theory for either the linear wave equation or the Klein-Gordon equation with conformal mass on the (anti-) de Sitter-Reissner-Nordström interior.

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