Cited by 60Black Holes and Theoretical PhysicsCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories

Dynamical Formation of Regular Black Holes

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Bueno, Pablo, Cano, Pablo A., Hennigar, Robie A., Murcia, Ángel J.·2025·Physical Review Letters

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Abstract

We study dynamical gravitational collapse in a theory with an infinite tower of higher-derivative corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action and we show that, under very general conditions, it leads to the formation of regular black holes. Our results are facilitated by the use of a class of theories that possess second-order equations on spherically symmetric metrics, but which are general enough to provide a basis for the gravitational effective action in any D≥5. We analytically solve the collapse of a thin shell of dust and show that it inevitably experiences a bounce at small radius and that its motion can be extended to arbitrary proper time. The collapse of the shell always gives rise to a singularity-free, geodesically complete spacetime that contains horizons if the total mass is above a critical value. In that case, the shell bounces into a new universe through a white hole explosion. Our construction provides, to the best of our knowledge, the first fully dynamical description of formation of regular black holes, and it suggests that higher-derivative corrections may be the most natural way to resolve the singularities of Einstein's theory.

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Crossref · 10.1103/physrevlett.134.181401

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  • R^3 is also the first set of operators possibly leading to non-singular GLOBs.

    “Notably, ℛ 3 is also the first set of JHEP02(2026)034 operators possibly leading to non-singular GLOBs [136,138,144].”

    From Charting GLOBs in asymptotically safe gravity (2026) · cites this paper as [144]

    The discussion of quasitopological gravities (page unavailable in our copy) includes a cubic-curvature density, and the regular-black-hole discussion says an infinite tower of higher-curvature corrections can yield singularity-free black holes in D ≥ 5. It does not identify R³ as the first operators capable of doing so; the tower also includes quadratic terms, and the stated regularity result concerns the tower rather than R³ alone. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. A. D. Sakharov, Vacuum quantum fluctuations in curved space and the theory of gravitation, Dokl. Akad. Nauk Ser. Fiz. 177, 70 (1968) [Sov. Phys. Dokl. 12, 1040 (1968)].
  2. J. Bardeen, Non-singular general relativistic gravitational collapse, in Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Gravitation and the Theory of Relativity (1968), p. 87.
  3. D. Bazeia, L. Losano, G. J. Olmo, D. Rubiera-Garcia, and A. Sanchez-Puente, Classical resolution of black hole PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 134, 181401 (2025) 181401-6
  4. A. Colleaux, Regular black hole and cosmological space- times in non-polynomial gravity theories, PhD thesis, Trento U., 6, 2019.
  5. P. Bueno, P. A. Cano, R. A. Hennigar, and Á. J. Murcia, Dynamical formation of regular black holes, arXiv:2412 .02742.
  6. P. Bueno, P. A. Cano, R. A. Hennigar, and Á. J. Murcia, companion paper, Phys. Rev. D 111, 104009 (2025). · DOI

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Authors
Bueno, P., Cano, P. A., Hennigar, R. A., & Murcia, Á. J.
Affiliations
  • Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
  • Durham University (GB)
  • Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova (IT)
Corresponding author
Bueno, Pablo
Venue
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-05-06
Volume
134
Issue
18
Pages
181401-181401
ISSN
  • 0031-9007 (ISSN-L)
  • 1079-7114
OpenAlex
W4410118643
Cited by
60
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 25
FWCI
27.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Physical Review Letters (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (CNS 2023-143822, JDC2023-050770-I)
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2022-136224NB-C22)
  • Agencia Estatal de Investigación
  • European Regional Development Fund
  • ’la Caixa’ Foundation (LCF/BQ/PI23/11970032)
  • Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (847648)
  • H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
  • Universitat de Barcelona
  • Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC2020-028756-I)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
Keywords
regular black holes, higher-derivative corrections, Einstein-Hilbert action, bounce, singularity resolution, geodesic completeness, higher-dimensional gravity

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