Spherically symmetric scalar field collapse in any dimension

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible numerical formalism for studying spherically symmetric scalar field collapse across various spacetime dimensions and cosmological constants, extending previous results and providing new insights for five-dimensional cases.

Contribution

The paper develops a general double null formalism and numerical code adaptable to any dimension and cosmological constant, enabling new simulations in five dimensions.

Findings

Reproduces known results in 4 and 6 dimensions with zero cosmological constant.

Provides new results for 5-dimensional collapse with zero and negative Lambda.

Demonstrates the formalism's flexibility for arbitrary dimensions and cosmological constants.

Abstract

We describe a formalism and numerical approach for studying spherically symmetric scalar field collapse for arbitrary spacetime dimension d and cosmological constant Lambda. The presciption uses a double null formalism, and is based on field redefinitions first used to simplify the field equations in generic two-dimensional dilaton gravity. The formalism is used to construct code in which d and Lambda are input parameters. The code reproduces known results in d = 4 and d = 6 with Lambda = 0. We present new results for d = 5 with zero and negative Lambda.