Two worlds collide: Interacting shells in AdS spacetime and chaos

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex dynamics of two concentric shells in AdS spacetime, revealing phenomena like collapse, oscillation, and chaos driven solely by gravitational interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal two-shell model in AdS spacetime demonstrating rich, nontrivial gravitational dynamics and potential chaos, a novel insight into gravitational interactions in such settings.

Findings

System exhibits prompt black hole formation, delayed collapse, and perpetual oscillations.

Dynamics show critical behavior and strong indications of chaos.

Gravitational interaction alone can produce complex, nontrivial phenomena.

Abstract

We study the simplest two-body problem in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime: two, infinitely thin, concentric spherical shells of matter. We include only gravitational interaction between the two shells, but we show that the dynamics of this system is highly nontrivial. We observe prompt collapse to a black hole, delayed collapse and even perpetual oscillatory motion, depending on the initial location of the shells (or their energy content). The system exhibits critical behavior, and we show strong hints that it is also chaotic.