Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We establish that regular black holes can form from gravitational collapse in all D ≥ 5 . Our model builds on a recent construction that realized regular black holes as exact solutions to purely gravitational theories that incorporate an infinite tower of higher curvature corrections [P. Bueno , Regular black holes from pure gravity, .]. We identify a two-dimensional Horndeski theory that captures the spherically symmetric dynamics of the theories in question and use this to prove a Birkhoff theorem and obtain the generalized Israel junction conditions. Armed with these tools, we consider the collapse of thin shells of pressureless matter, showing that this leads generically to the formation of regular black holes. The interior dynamics we uncover is intricate, consisting of shell bounces and white hole explosions into a new universe. The result is that regular black holes are the unique spherically symmetric solutions of the corresponding theories and also the end point of gravitational collapse of matter. Along the way, we establish evidence for a solution-independent upper bound on the curvature, suggestive of Markov’s limiting curvature hypothesis.
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: “la Caixa” Foundation, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundación Bancaria Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Awards: G1255325603, G1345067513, G1456475170, Junior Leader la Caixa Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme: Shaping the new generation of leaders in research, G2262748287, G3480869486, G3681454997, G377623426, Junior Leader la Caixa Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme: Shaping the new generation of leaders in research, G4042783231, G425668148, G434337789, G4691964718, G4780673168, G4895040100, G4993383890, G5099673792, G5132640529, G586857820, G7084143925, G7177582736, G7525315620, G7685134749, G7731791180, G7863371703, G8497050386
OpenAlex ID: W4410118816