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General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, gr-qc, Astrophysics, Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, astro-ph.SR,High Energy Physics - Theory, hep-th
Abstract:
An axisymmetric collapse of non-rotating gravitational waves is numerically
investigated in the subcritical regime where no black holes form but where
curvature attains a maximum and decreases, following the dispersion of the
initial wave packet. We find that near the threshold for black hole formation a
curvature invariant with dimensions of length, scales as a power-law with the
approximate exponent 0.38. In addition, the variation of the curvature in the
critical limit is accompanied by increasing amount of echos, with nearly equal
temporal and spatial periods. The scaling and the echoing patterns, and the
corresponding constants are independent of the initial data and coordinate
choices.
