Formation of extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes: Insights from numerics
Abstract
An extremal Reissner-Nordström black hole can form in finite time in the gravitational collapse of a massless charged scalar field. The proof of this is based on the method of characteristic gluing, which involves making an for the scalar field at the horizon. We perform a numerical investigation of the characteristic gluing procedure for several different . In each case, gluing is possible only if the final black hole mass is large enough. We find that the minimum required mass varies significantly for different . We also consider the effect of including a mass term for the scalar field. In this case, for each we determine the maximum mass-to-charge ratio for the scalar field such that gluing is possible. Analogous results are obtained for a nonzero cosmological constant.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 8
- Publication date
- 12 March 2026
- Language
- EN