Quartic Scalar Clouds on Fixed Kerr Backgrounds

Abstract

We study stationary nonlinear clouds of a complex scalar field on fixed Kerr and Schwarzschild backgrounds, with an unbounded scalar potential. On Kerr backgrounds we find finite-amplitude Q-clouds satisfying the synchronisation condition $ω=mΩ_H$. They occupy two-dimensional regions of the ($Ω_H,M_K$) plane and reduce to the corresponding linear clouds as the scalar field amplitude tends to zero. The quartic domain can continue to $Ω_H=0$, where both the synchronised frequency and the Noether charge vanish and the solutions become static nonlinear scalar clouds on a fixed Schwarzschild background. We also compute the existence domain for a normalised, axion-inspired cosine potential.