Cosmic censorship and charged radiation in second order Lovelock gravity

Abstract

The conditions for naked singularity formation are considered for a radiating metric of Boulware–Deser type within an electromagnetic field in second order Lovelock (or Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet) gravity. The spacetime metric remains real only up to certain maximum charge contribution. This differs from general relativity. Beyond a certain maximal charge, there exists no real and physical spacetime since the metric becomes complex. We establish that, under certain parameters and for specific values of the mass function and charge contribution, this branch singularity is indeed a naked singularity. This is in contrast to the neutral case where the spacetime metric is always real for a positive mass function, and further, a weak, initially naked singularity always occurs before it becomes covered by an event horizon for all future time. We highlight that both neutral and charged collapse under gravity in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity differ significantly to their general relativistic counterparts.