Overcharging a higher-dimensional black hole with test particles

Abstract

One of the last remaining open questions in classical general relativity is the question of cosmic censorship. In four dimensions, it is known that extremal black holes cannot be overcharged or overspun into naked singularities by test particles. We demonstrate that this is no longer true in higher dimensions. Specifically, we show that a higher-dimensional extremally-charged black hole can become overcharged by absorbing test particles. Cosmic censorship thus appears easier to violate in higher dimensions.