Cosmic strings in axisymmetric black hole spacetimes; the C--metric "engines"

Abstract

The interpretation of so-called cosmic string in black hole spacetimes has settled down to an unsatisfactory state. In this article we try to provide a different model for these cosmic strings by explicit construction of these spacetimes from the Bonnor rocket solution. It is shown that the correct stress-energy tensor is that of null dust with a rather strange energy density --- first derivative of Dirac delta distribution. We will discuss the Schwarzschild solution and the C--metric. In the latter case we will show that there is a momentum flux through the cosmic string, causing the acceleration of the black hole.