Numerical studies of ² -oscillatons

Abstract

We present an exhaustive analysis of the numerical evolution of the Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations for the case of a real scalar field endowed with a quadratic self-interaction potential. The self-gravitating equilibrium configurations are called oscillatons and are close relatives of boson stars, their complex counterparts. Unlike boson stars, for which the oscillations of the two components of the complex scalar field are such that the spacetime geometry remains static, oscillatons give rise to a geometry that is time-dependent and oscillatory in nature. However, they can still be classified into stable (S-branch) and unstable (U-branch) cases. We have found that S-oscillatons are indeed stable configurations under small perturbations and typically migrate to other S-profiles when perturbed strongly. On the other hand, U-oscillatons are intrinsically unstable: they migrate to the S-branch if their mass is decreased and collapse to black holes if their mass is increased even by a small amount. The S-oscillatons can also be made to collapse to black holes if enough mass is added to them, but such collapse can be efficiently prevented by the gravitational cooling mechanism in the case of diluted oscillatons.