Critical phenomena in gravitational collapse

TL;DR

This paper introduces critical phenomena in gravitational collapse, focusing on the regularity of critical spacetimes and their role in understanding gravitational collapse behavior.

Contribution

It provides a mini-introduction and detailed discussion on the regularity of critical spacetimes in gravitational collapse.

Findings

Critical spacetimes exhibit specific regularity properties.

Critical phenomena influence the dynamics of gravitational collapse.

The paper discusses mathematical aspects of these phenomena.

Abstract

Lecture given at the workshop "Mathematical aspects of theories of gravitation", Stefan Banach International Mathematical Centre, 7 March 1996. A mini-introduction to critical phenomena in gravitational collapse is combined with a more detailed discussion of the regularity of the ``critical spacetimes'' dominating these phenomena.