Are black holes a serious threat to scalar field dark matter models? (1108.0931v1)

Abstract: Classical scalar fields have been proposed as possible candidates for the dark matter component of the universe. Given the fact that super-massive black holes seem to exist at the center of most galaxies, in order to be a viable candidate for the dark matter halo a scalar field configuration should be stable in the presence of a central black hole, or at least be able to survive for cosmological time-scales. In the present work we consider a scalar field as a test field on a Schwarzschild background, and study under which conditions one can obtain long-lived configurations. We present a detailed study of the Klein-Gordon equation in the Schwarzschild spacetime, both from an analytical and numerical point of view, and show that indeed there exist quasi-stationary solutions that can remain surrounding a black hole for large time-scales.