Exact solution for scalar field collapse

TL;DR

This paper presents an exact spherically symmetric solution to the Einstein-scalar field equations, revealing black/white hole regions and critical collapse behavior in a cosmological context.

Contribution

It provides a novel exact solution for scalar field collapse with properties relevant to critical phenomena in gravitational collapse.

Findings

Contains black or white hole-like regions with trapped surfaces.

Features a timelike conformal Killing vector field.

Reveals critical behavior in scalar field collapse.

Abstract

We give an exact spherically symmetric solution for the Einstein-scalar field system. The solution may be interpreted as an inhomogeneous dynamical scalar field cosmology. The spacetime has a timelike conformal Killing vector field and is asymptotically conformally flat. It also has black or white hole-like regions containing trapped surfaces. We describe the properties of the apparent horizon and comment on the relevance of the solution to the recently discovered critical behaviour in scalar field collapse.