Maxwell-dilaton dynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nonlinear dynamics of Maxwell-dilaton theory in flat spacetime through numerical simulations, exploring monopoles, flux tubes, and potential singularity formation, with implications for related gravitational and gauge theories.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of Maxwell-dilaton dynamics, including monopoles and flux tubes, highlighting potential singularity development in nonlinear regimes.

Findings

Large gradients suggest possible singularity formation.

No clear transition between dispersion and stationarity observed.

Behavior differs from black hole critical phenomena.

Abstract

The dynamics of Maxwell-dilaton theory in Minkowski spacetime are studied using fully nonlinear, numerical evolutions. This model represents the flat-space sector of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theory which has attracted interest recently because it is a well-posed alternative to general relativity, and it also represents the abelian sector of Yang-Mills-Dilaton. As such, understanding its dynamics may shed light on the dynamics of the respective larger systems. In particular, we study electric, magnetic, and dyonic monopoles as well as the flux tubes studied previously by Gibbons and Wells. Some scenarios produce large gradients that an increasing adaptive mesh refinement fails to resolve. This behavior is suggestive, although far from conclusive, that the growth leads to singularity formation. No sharp transition between singularity formation and either dispersion or stationarity is found, unlike other nonlinear systems that have demonstrated behavior similar to black hole critical behavior at such transitions.