Quasinormal Modes in Extremal Reissner-Nordstrom Spacetimes

We present a new framework for characterizing quasinormal modes (QNMs) or resonant states for the wave equation on asymptotically flat spacetimes, applied to the setting of extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. We show that QNMs can be interpreted as honest eigenfunctions of generators of time translations acting on Hilbert spaces of initial data, corresponding to a suitable time slicing. The main difficulty that is present in the asymptotically flat setting, but is absent in the previously studied asymptotically de Sitter or anti de Sitter sub-extremal black hole spacetimes, is that L-2-based Sobolev spaces are not suitable Hilbert space choices. Instead, we consider Hilbert spaces of functions that are additionally Gevrey regular at infinity and at the event horizon. We introduce L-2-based Gevrey estimates for the wave equation that are intimately connected to the existence of conserved quantities along null infinity and the event horizon. We relate this new framework to the traditional interpretation of quasinormal frequencies as poles of the meromorphic continuation of a resolvent operator and obtain new quantitative results in this setting.

Automated summary

A new framework is proposed to characterize quasinormal modes or resonant states for the wave equation on asymptotically flat spacetimes, focusing on extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. Quasinormal modes are interpreted as honest eigenfunctions of time translation generators on Hilbert spaces of initial data. The main difficulty in the asymptotically flat setting is the unsuitability of L-2-based Sobolev spaces as suitable Hilbert space choices, leading to the consideration of Hilbert spaces of Gevrey regular functions at infinity and the event horizon.