3D simulations of linearized scalar fields in Kerr spacetime

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of a dynamical scalar field on a fixed Kerr background in Kerr-Schild coordinates using a (3+1)-dimensional spectral evolution code, and we measure the power-law tail decay that occurs at late times. We compare evolutions of initial data proportional to f(r)Y[script l]m(theta,phi), where Y[script l]m is a spherical harmonic and (r,theta,phi) are Kerr-Schild coordinates, to that of initial data proportional to f(rBL)Y[script l]m(thetaBL,phi), where (rBL,thetaBL) are Boyer-Lindquist coordinates. We find that although these two cases are initially almost identical, the evolution can be quite different at intermediate times; however, at late times the power-law decay rates are equal.

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