Abstract
We present analytic expressions that approximate the behavior of the spacetime of a collapsing spherically symmetric scalar field in the critical regime first discovered by Choptuik. We find that the critical region of spacetime can usefully be divided into a "quiescent," an "oscillatory," and a moving "transition" region. We find that in the quiescent and oscillatory regions the critical solution can be well approximated by a flat spacetime scalar field solution. A qualitative nonlinear matching of the solutions across the transition region yields the right order of magnitude for the oscillations of the discretely self-similar critical solution found by Choptuik.
- Received 5 January 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.54.3792
©1996 American Physical Society