Effects of Pair Creation on Charged Gravitational Collapse

TL;DR

This paper studies how pair creation affects the internal structure of a charged black hole during gravitational collapse, showing that pair creation can replace part of the Cauchy horizon with a strong singularity depending on the electric field.

Contribution

It introduces a simple numerical model to analyze the impact of pair creation on black hole interior geometry during collapse, highlighting the replacement of the Cauchy horizon with a strong singularity.

Findings

Part of the Cauchy horizon is replaced by a strong space-like singularity.

The extent of this replacement depends on the critical electric field for pair creation.

Numerical simulations trace the dynamical formation of the modified black hole interior.

Abstract

We investigate the effects of pair creation on the internal geometry of a black hole, which forms during the gravitational collapse of a charged massless scalar field. Classically, strong central Schwarzschild-like singularity forms, and a null, weak, mass-inflation singularity arises along the Cauchy horizon, in such a collapse. We consider here the discharge, due to pair creation, below the event horizon and its influence on the {\it dynamical formation} of the Cauchy horizon. Within the framework of a simple model we are able to trace numerically the collapse. We find that a part of the Cauchy horizon is replaced by the strong space-like central singularity. This fraction depends on the value of the critical electric field, $E_{\rm cr}$, for the pair creation.