Nonlinear scalar perturbations of extremal Reissner-Nordström spacetimes

Abstract

We present the first rigorous study of nonlinear wave equations on extremal black hole spacetimes without any symmetry assumptions on the solution. Specifically, we prove global existence with asymptotic blow-up for solutions to nonlinear wave equations satisfying the null condition on extremal Reissner-Nordström backgrounds. This result shows that the extremal horizon instability persists in model nonlinear theories. Our proof crucially relies on a new vector field method that allows us to obtain almost sharp decay estimates.