Volume 71B, number 1

PHYSICS LETTERS

7 November 1977

BLACK HOLES ARE COLOURED

Malcolm J. PERRY

Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Silver St., Cambridge, l:ngland
Received 9 May 197~/
It is shown that a black hole may act as the source of Yang-Mills fields. This result is used to consider briefly the
implications for black hole evaporation within the context of gauge theories of strong interactions.
Recently, there has been much excitement about
classical solutions of gauge theories that have nontrivial topologies and are free from singularities.
Since gauge fields act as a source of the gravitational
field, it is apparent that non-trivial topologies can be
generated by the interaction of a Yang-Mills field
and its associated gravitational field. In this letter,
we construct a soliton type solution of the Einstein -Yang-Mills equations that is a black hole acting as
a source of Y a n g Mills fields.
Initially, we shall consider a pure Yang-Mills
theory [1], with an arbitrary gauge group whose
structure functions are cc,~,r. The Yang-Mills fields
Faa# are generated by a set of vector potentials A a,
where

Fab = 3aA ~ - Ob A a + g cao.rA~aA aY = 2 D[aA~] , (1)

g is a coupling constant.
Greek indices are in the Lie algebra of the gauge
group, and Latin indices are spacetime indices. D a is
the gauge covariant and spacetime covariant derivative. The equations of motion may be derived from
the Lagrangian density
.~ = - (1/167r) Fabt,'~b ,

(2)

and are

D a F ab = 0 ,

(3)

and
Da

* F ab = 0 .

(4)

represents the dual operator. The way in which

such fields couple to gravity is determined by the
energy-momenta Tab. The action I is given by

l= f Z ~ g t / 2 d a x ,
234

where g is det (gab':" Tab is then

Tab = __ 2 g _ l / 2

61
8gab

1 [bac F~bC.. gab Fcd F~cd ]

47r

Owing to the simplicity of the Yang-Mills fields, it is

convenient to consider the vector potentials A a as
a vector valued l-form A s. The fields Fffab are then
described by a vector valued 2-form defined by

1-'~ = 2 d A ~ + g c ~ y A ~ A V

(7)

where d is the exterior derivative.

We now consider a general spherically symmetric
static spacetime with a global topology of S 2 X R 2.
In Schwarzschild-type co-ordinates [2] (t, r, O, 4)),
the metric is given by
ds 2 = - e V d t 2 + e X d r 2 + r 2 d 0 2 + r 2 s i n 2 0 d 5 2 ,

(8)

v and ), are functions ofr. One can pick the orthonormal

tetrad co given by
co = {eU/Zdt, el/2Xdr,rdO, r sin 0 dqS} .

(9)

One can now construct a Yang-Mills 2-form F,~ that is

consistent with spherical sym,netry. Firstly, the only
spherically symmetric 2-form on S 2 is proportional to
sin 0 d0 A de. This is however not the only admissible
Yang-Mills 2-form since the classical theory is invariant under duality rotations (viz. if/-~ is a solution
of the field equations, then so is *F). Thus we can
also permit a term proportional to dr A dr. We choose

F~ = Ea(r ) co~)co(O) + B~(r) co(A2)CO(2) ,

(5)

(6)

(10)

Ec, and Ba are both functions o f r to be determined.

If we substitute this into the energy-momentum tensor,

Volume 71 B, number 1

PHYSICS LETTERS

in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates, where

we find that

b 2 = QC'Qa + p c ' p ~ .

1 [Ec"k-w+ Bc'Ba ]
Tab = -~n

Rab = -~Rgab = 8rr Tab,

(12)

if
k'a(r ) = ac" 1/r 2 ,

(13)

Bc'(r) = Pc" 1/r 2 ,

(14)

Qc'r[dt-asin20 d~] - Pc~cos0 [adt-(r2+a2)d(a]

Ac'-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
r2 +a2 cs20
(21)
where we have used the gauge as was chosen for (16).
In order for the field equations to be satisfied, the
consistency condition (17) must still hold. This solution represents a black hole provided that
a 2 +b 2 ~<M2 .

1- 2r +2
r 2 (ac'Q~+ec'Pc'),

(15)

where P,~ and Qc" are constant vectors in the Lie algebra
of the gauge group. In order to ensure that the individual field equations (3) and (4) are satisfied, we can
choose a gauge such that the Yang-Mills potential 1form is
Ac" = Qc" ( I /r) dt - Pc" cos 0 d~.

(16)

We then find that (3) and (4) are satisfied provided

that
gcaove~Q't = 0 .

(17)

This solution has identical geometry to the ReissnerNordstrom solution, and thus represents a black hole
provided that
pc'pa + ac~Qa ~<M2 "

(18)

Pc, can be considered to be the Yang-Mills analogue

of the magnetic monopole moment, and Qc" the analogue
of the electric charge. One should note that Pc" and
Qc" are not gauge invariant quantities, although the
combination that appears in the metric tensor PC'Pa+
Qc'Qa is both gauge invariant and duality rotation invariant.
It is trivial to extend this treatment to deal with the
case of rotating black holes. The space-time then takes
on the Kerr-Newman geometry
dr2
dO 2]
r 2 - 2Mr + a 2 + b 2

+ (sin20 [a dt - (r 2 + a 2) d~] 2._ [r 2 _ 2 M r + a 2 +b 2 ]

X [dt - a sin20 d~b]2)/(r2 + a 2 cos20),

(20)

Additionally one may write the Yang-Mills 1-form as

X ,lcoa(0) cob(0)+co(3)oo(3)
a
b + coa(2)cob(2) ._ co(1)co(l)l
a
b J"
(11)
This will solve the Einstein equations

ds2=(r2+a2cos20)[

7 November 1977

(19)

(22)

Thus we have shown that a black hole can act as the

source of any massless gauge field.
The Kerr-Newman geometry was originally found
by considering solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations. One almost has a complete proof that the K e r r Newman solutions provide the unique geometry for
stationary electrovac black holes [2, 3]. Given the similarity between Yang-Mills theories and electromagnetism, and that the solutions we have found also have
Kerr-Newman geometry, it seems probable that these
uniqueness proofs can be extended to arbitrary Y a n g Mills fields.
It is interesting to note the physical significance of
these solutions within a context of gauge theories of
strong interactions. In a theory where there is, for
example, an unbroken SU(3) colour gauge group, then
the black hole will act as a source of these gauge fields
and conserve the colour quantum number. This is
exactly analogous to the electromagnetic case where the
gauge group is U(I), and the black hole conserves the
quantum number of charge. This result saves us from
an embarassing possibility in the consideration of the
black hole evaporation process [4]. One knows that
a black hole evaporates in a completely thermal fashion,
subject only to the constraints imposed by the quantum
numbers conserved by the black hole [4, 5]. Ifcolour
were not such a quantum number, a black hole emitting
quarks could produce, as a result of some fluctuation,
a net excess of one particular colour. This would result
in a physical state of non-zero colour, an~l would contradict ones ideas of quark confinement [6]. However,
since a black hole conserves colour, any fluctuation in
the emission process that generates a coloured black
hole will immediately be countered by the black hole
losing its colour in much the same way as a ch~rged
235

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PItYSICS LE'Iq'FRS

black hole would lose its charge in the case o f electromagnetism [7]. Thus the black hole will remain neutral with respect to colour, and so a colourless final
state for the emission products is guaranteed.
I would like to thank Dr Stephen Hawking for
useful conversations.

References
[1] E.S. Abers and B.W. Lee, Phys. Reports 9C (1973) 1.

236

7 November 1977

[2] B. Carter, in: Les astres occlus, Proc. of the Les Houchcs
Summer School, 1972, eds. C. and B.S. de Witt (Gordon
and Breach, New York, 1973).
[31 W. Israel, Comm. Math. Phys. 8 (1968) 245;
D.C. Robinson, Phys. Rev. D10 (1974) 458; Phys. Rev.
l.ett. 34 (1975) 905.
[4] S.W. Hawking, Comm. Math. Phys. 43 (1975) 199;
B. Carter, G.W. Gibbons, M.J. Perry and D. Lin, Astron.
Astrophys. 52 (1976) 427.
[5] G.W. Gibbons and M.J. Perry, Proc. Roy. Sot., to appear
(1977).
[6] H. Fritzsch, H. Leutweyler and M. Gell-Mann, Phys. Lett.
47B (1973) 365.
[7] G.W. Gibbons, Comm. Math. Phys. 44 (1975) 245.