Tachyonic scalar waves in the Schwarzschild space-time

Abstract

The scalar wave equation of a tachyon is investigated in the background of Schwarzschild geometry. The scalar field is split up into partial waves of all integral momentum states and the space development of each partial wave is studied as it approaches the singularity. The problem is mainly considered in the light of the assumption that the tachyon mass-parameter is comparable to the mass of a atomic particle while the black hole mass is comparable to that of an average star. The reflection and transmission properties of these partial waves at the effective potential barrier, arising partly from their angular momentum and partly from the curvature of space-time are discussed. It is found that in the radial case (l=0) the criteria for the bounce are different from the purely classical behavior of spacelike geodetic trajectories.