Stability of gravitating charged-scalar solitons in a cavity

Abstract

We present new regular solutions of Einstein-charged-scalar-field theory in a cavity. The system is enclosed inside a reflecting mirrorlike boundary, on which the scalar field vanishes. The mirror is placed at the zero of the scalar field closest to the origin, and inside this boundary our solutions are regular. We study the stability of these solitons under linear, spherically symmetric perturbations of the metric, scalar and electromagnetic fields. If the radius of the mirror is sufficiently large, we present numerical evidence for the stability of the solitons. For small mirror radius, some of the solitons are unstable. We discuss the physical interpretation of this instability.