Scalar Tsunamis from Black Hole Formation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the release of scalar field energy during black hole formation, incorporating general relativity to refine previous estimates and analyze the resulting spectrum of scalar waves.

Contribution

It provides improved modeling of scalar field configurations and energy release during black hole formation, including relativistic effects and spectrum corrections.

Findings

Energy release comparable to flat space estimates

Noticeable spectrum corrections due to relativistic effects

Enhanced modeling of initial scalar configurations

Abstract

Stars and other macroscopic objects may be surrounded by potentially large field configurations of very light scalars coupled to ordinary matter. If the star ends in a black hole, e.g. via a supernova or a neutron star merger, the source vanishes, and the field is released. In this paper, we improve on previous estimates for the field configurations arriving at large distances by including the effects of general relativity and an improved modelling of the initial field configurations. The total amount of energy released is typically of the same order of magnitude as suggested by simple flat space estimates. The spectrum receives noticeable corrections.