# Ultrarelativistic Black Hole Formation

## Author(s): East, William E; Pretorius, Frans

To refer to this page use: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr1vh53
 Abstract: We study the head-on collision of fluid particles well within the kinetic energy dominated regime (gamma = 8 to 12) by numerically solving the Einstein-hydrodynamic equations. We find that the threshold for black hole formation is lower (by a factor of a few) than simple hoop conjecture estimates, and, moreover, near this threshold two distinct apparent horizons first form postcollision and then merge. We argue that this can be understood in terms of a gravitational focusing effect. The gravitational radiation reaches luminosities of 0: 014 c(5)/G, carrying 16 +/- 2% of the total energy. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.101101 Publication Date: 8-Mar-2013 Electronic Publication Date: 7-Mar-2013 Citation: East, William E, Pretorius, Frans. (2013). Ultrarelativistic Black Hole Formation. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 110 (10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.101101 DOI: doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.101101 ISSN: 0031-9007 EISSN: 1079-7114 Type of Material: Journal Article Journal/Proceeding Title: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Version: Final published version. Article is made available in OAR by the publisher's permission or policy.