We perform numerical simulations of gravitational collapse in Einstein-aether theory. We find that under certain conditions, the collapse results in the temporary formation of a white hole horizon.
In this paper, we systematically study spherically symmetric static spacetimes in the framework of Einstein-aether theory, and pay particular attention to the existence of black holes (BHs). In the present studies we first clarify several subtle issu
es. In particular, we find that, out of the five non-trivial field equations, only three are independent, so the problem is well-posed, as now generically there are only three unknown functions, {$F(r), B(r), A(r)$, where $F$ and $B$ are metric coefficients, and $A$ describes the aether field.} In addition, the two second-order differential equations for $A$ and $F$ are independent of $B$, and once they are found, $B$ is given simply by an algebraic expression of $F,; A$ and their derivatives. To simplify the problem further, we explore the symmetry of field redefinitions, and work first with the redefined metric and aether field, and then obtain the physical ones by the inverse transformations. These clarifications significantly simplify the computational labor, which is important, as the problem is highly involved mathematically. In fact, it is exactly because of these, we find various numerical BH solutions with an accuracy that is at least two orders higher than previous ones. More important, these BH solutions are the only ones that satisfy the self-consistent conditions and meantime are consistent with all the observational constraints obtained so far. The locations of universal horizons are also identified, together with several other observationally interesting quantities, such as the innermost stable circular orbits (ISCO), the ISCO frequency, and the maximum redshift $z_{max}$ of a photon emitted by a source orbiting the ISCO. All of these quantities are found to be quite close to their relativistic limits.
The Einstein-Aether (EA) theory belongs to a class of modified gravity theories characterized by the introduction of a time-like unit vector field, called aether. In this scenario, a preferred frame arises as a natural consequence of a broken Lorentz
invariance. In the present work we have obtained and analyzed some exact solutions allowed by this theory for two particular cases of perfect fluid, both with Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) symmetry: (i) a fluid with constant energy density ($p=-rho_0$), and (ii) a fluid with zero energy density ($rho_0=0$), corresponding to the vacuum solution with and without cosmological constant ($Lambda$), respectively. Our solutions show that the EA and GR theories do not differentiate each other only by the coupling constants. This difference is clearly shown because of the existence of singularities that there are not in GR theory. This characteristic appears in the solutions with $p=-rho_0$ as well as with $rho_0=0$, where this last one depends only on the aether field. Besides, we consider the term of the EA theory in the Raychaudhuri equation and discuss the meaning of the strong energy condition in this scenario and found that this depends on aether field. The solutions admit an expanding or contracting system. A bounce, a singular, a constant and an accelerated expansion solutions were also obtained, exhibiting the richness of the EA theory from the dynamic point of view of a collapsing system or of a cosmological model. The analysis of energy conditions, considering an effective fluid shows that the term of the aether contributes significantly for the accelerated expansion of the system for the case in which the energy density is constant. On the other hand, for the vacuum case ($rho_0=0$), the energy conditions are all satisfied for the aether fluid.
How do the global properties of a Lorentzian manifold change when endowed with a vector field? This interesting question is tackled in this paper within the framework of Einstein-Aether (EA) theory which has the most general diffeomorphism-invariant
action involving a spacetime metric and a vector field. After classifying all the possible nine vacuum solutions with and without cosmological constant in Friedmann-Lema{^{i}}tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmology, we show that there exist three singular solutions in the EA theory which are not singular in the General Relativity (GR), all of them for $k=-1$, and another singular solution for $k=1$ in EA theory which does not exist in GR. This result is cross-verified by showing the focusing of timelike geodesics using the Raychaudhuri equation. These new singular solutions show that GR and EA theories can be completely different, even for the FLRW solutions when we go beyond flat geometry ($k=0$). In fact, they have different global structures. In the case where $Lambda=0$ ($k=pm 1$) the vector field defining the preferred direction is the unique source of the curvature.
In Einstein-Aether theory, we study the stability of black holes against odd-parity perturbations on a spherically symmetric and static background. For odd-parity modes, there are two dynamical degrees of freedom arising from the tensor gravitational
sector and Aether vector field. We derive general conditions under which neither ghosts nor Laplacian instabilities are present for these dynamical fields. We apply these results to concrete black hole solutions known in the literature and show that some of those solutions can be excluded by the violation of stability conditions. The exact Schwarzschild solution present for $c_{13} = c_{14} = 0$, where $c_i$s are the four coupling constants of the theory with $c_{ij}=c_i + c_j$, is prone to Laplacian instabilities along the angular direction throughout the horizon exterior. However, we find that the odd-parity instability of high radial and angular momentum modes is absent for black hole solutions with $c_{13} = c_4 = 0$ and $c_1 geq 0$.
In this work we present all the possible solutions for a static cylindrical symmetric spacetime in the Einstein-Aether (EA) theory. As far as we know, this is the first work in the literature that considers cylindrically symmetric solutions in the th
eory of EA. One of these solutions is the generalization in EA theory of the Levi-Civita (LC) spacetime in General Relativity (GR) theory. We have shown that this generalized LC solution has unusual geodesic properties, depending on the parameter $c_{14}$ of the aether field. The circular geodesics are the same of the GR theory, no matter the values of $c_{14}$. However, the radial and $z$ direction geodesics are allowed only for certain values of $sigma$ and $c_{14}$. The $z$ direction geodesics are restricted to an interval of $sigma$ different from those predicted by the GR and the radial geodesics show that the motion is confined between the origin and a maximum radius. The latter is not affected by the aether field but the velocity and acceleration of the test particles are Besides, for $0leqsigma<1/2$, when the cylindrical symmetry is preserved, this spacetime is singular at the axis $r=0$, although for $sigma>1/2$ exists interval of $c_{14}$ where the spacetime is not singular, which is completely different from that one obtained with the GR theory, where the axis $r=0$ is always singular.