Nonlinear interactions between black holes and Proca fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates how black holes interact with massive vector fields (Proca fields) within General Relativity, revealing that black holes can maintain Proca field condensates for very long durations, which has implications for dark matter and strong gravity tests.

Contribution

It demonstrates that black holes can support long-lived Proca field condensates, extending understanding of black hole 'hair' in theories beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Black holes can sustain Proca field condensates for long time-scales.

Proca fields can form stable configurations around black holes.

Implications for dark matter detection and tests of gravity.

Abstract

Physics beyond the Standard Model is an important candidate for dark matter, and an interesting testing ground for strong-field gravity: the equivalence principle "forces" all forms of matter to fall in the same way, and it is therefore natural to look for imprints of these fields in regions with strong gravitational fields, such as compact stars or black holes. Here we study General Relativity minimally coupled to a massive vector field, and how black holes in this theory lose "hair". Our results indicate that black holes can sustain Proca field condensates for extremely long time-scales.