Strength of the null singularity inside black holes

Abstract

We study analytically the Cauchy horizon singularity inside spherically-symmetric charged black holes, coupled to a spherical self-gravitating, minimally-coupled, massless scalar field. We show that all causal geodesics terminate at the Cauchy horizon at a null singularity, which is weak according to the Tipler classification. The singularity is also deformationally-weak in the sense of Ori. Our results are valid at arbitrary points along the null singularity, in particular at late retarded times, when non-linear effects are crucial.