Nonlinear interactions between black holes and Proca fields

Abstract

Physics beyond the Standard Model is an important candidate for dark matter, and an interesting testing ground for strong-field gravity: the equivalence principle "forces" all forms of matter to fall in the same way, and it is therefore natural to look for imprints of these fields in regions with strong gravitational fields, such as compact stars or black holes. Here we study General Relativity minimally coupled to a massive vector field, and how black holes in this theory lose "hair". Our results indicate that black holes can sustain Proca field condensates for extremely long time-scales.