Asymptotic horizon formation, spacetime stretching, and causality

Abstract

In this work we analyze asymptotically flat, spherically symmetric spacetimes in which an event horizon is present without any trapped surfaces. We identify two types of such spacetimes, each related to the asymptotic behavior (in time) of one of the two degrees of freedom of the metric. We study the causal structure of both types, showing that one almost always has a Cauchy horizon beyond which it is extendable, while the other is inextendable but has two separate future null infinity regions on either side of the horizon. We also study what energy conditions can be satisfied by the matter around the horizon. Some of these spacetimes were first introduced in an earlier work in which semiclassical effects near black hole horizons were analyzed. Here, we generalize this analysis to a larger family of geometries.