Princeton University LFTP Seminar
Weak Cosmic Censorship and Critical Collapse in 2+1 Gravity
Abstract: The Weak Cosmic Censorship conjecture of Penrose ’69 states that naked singularities do not form for generic initial data. Moreover, starting with the work of Choptuik '92, numerical relativity predicts that naked singularities arise on the threshold of non-collapse and black hole formation, a phenomenon referred to as critical collapse. In this talk, we consider the setting of the circularly symmetric Einstein-scalar field system in 2+1 dimensions, in the presence of a negative cosmological constant. We present the proof of the Weak Cosmic Censorship conjecture for this system. We also present the first rigorous construction of threshold naked singularities in general relativity, in joint work with Igor Rodnianski (Princeton University).