Dynamical formation of a hairy black hole in a cavity from the decay of unstable solitons

Recent numerical relativity simulations within the Einstein--Maxwell--(charged-)Klein-Gordon (EMcKG) system have shown that the non-linear evolution of a superradiantly unstable Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole (BH) enclosed in a cavity, leads to the formation of a BH with scalar hair. Perturbative evidence for the stability of such hairy BHs has been independently established, confirming they are the true endpoints of the superradiant instability. The same EMcKG system admits also charged scalar soliton-type solutions, which can be either stable or unstable. Using numerical relativity techniques, we provide evidence that the time evolution of some of these $\textit{unstable}$ solitons leads, again, to the formation of a hairy BH. In some other cases, unstable solitons evolve into a (bald) Reissner-Nordstr\"om BH. These results establish that the system admits two distinct channels to form hairy BHs at the threshold of superradiance: growing hair from an unstable (bald) BH, or growing a horizon from an unstable (horizonless) soliton. Some parallelism with the case of asymptotically flat boson stars and Kerr BHs with scalar hair is drawn.