Self-Similar Collapse of Conformally Coupled Scalar Fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates the gravitational collapse of a conformally coupled scalar field, establishing that Roberts' solution is the most general in the minimally coupled case and extending the analysis to self-similar conformal scenarios.

Contribution

It demonstrates the generality of Roberts' solution for scalar field collapse and explores self-similar conformal collapse models.

Findings

Roberts' solution is the most general for minimally coupled scalar collapse.

Extension of collapse analysis to self-similar conformal scalar fields.

Insights into scalar field dynamics in gravitational collapse.

Abstract

A massless scalar field minimally coupled to the gravitational field in a simplified spherical symmetry is discussed. It is shown that, in this case, the solution found by Roberts, describing a scalar field collapse, is in fact the most general one. Taking that solution as departure point, a study of the gravitational collapse for the self-similar conformal case is presented.