We study the gravitational collapse of a homogeneous scalar field, minimally coupled to gravity, in the presence of a particular type of dynamical deformation between the canonical momenta of the scale factor and of the scalar field. In the absence of such a deformation, a class of solutions can be found in the literature [R. Goswami and P. S. Joshi], whereby a curvature singularity occurs at the collapse end state, which can be either hidden behind a horizon or be visible to external observers. However, when the phase space is deformed, as implemented herein this paper, we find that the singularity may be either removed or instead, attained faster. More precisely, for negative values of the deformation parameter, we identify the emergence of a negative pressure term, which slows down the collapse so that the singularity is replaced with a bounce. In this respect, the formation of a dynamical horizon can be avoided depending on the suitable choice of the boundary surface of the star. Whereas for positive values, the pressure that originates from the deformation effects assists the collapse toward the singularity formation. In this case, since the collapse speed is unbounded, the condition on the horizon formation is always satisfied and furthermore the dynamical horizon develops earlier than when the phase-space deformations are absent. These results are obtained by means of a thoroughly numerical discussion.

• Received 17 September 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.044028