Talk abstract details

Our current picture of black hole collapse heavily relies i) on the assumption that the resulting singularity is hidden inside a black hole horizon (weak cosmic censorship conjecture), and ii) on the uniqueness of Kerr solution. From these two elements it follows that the minimal area containing an apparent horizon in a given spatial slice of spacetime, is bound by the square of the total ADM mass (Penrose inequality). Following Dain et al. (2002), and making use of spectral methods, we construct numerically a family of axially symmetric initial data for a 3+1 formulation of Einstein equations, which contain one or several marginally trapped surfaces. Penrose and related geometrical inequalities are discussed for these data. As a by-product, it is shown how Penrose inequality can be used, in certain situations, as a diagnostic for an apparent horizon finder numerical routine.