A proof of Friedman's ergosphere instability for scalar waves

Let $(\mathcal{M}^{3+1},g)$ be a real analytic, stationary and asymptotically flat spacetime with a non-empty ergoregion $\mathscr{E}$ and no future event horizon $\mathcal{H}^{+}$. On such spacetimes, Friedman provided a heuristic argument that the energy of certain solutions $\phi$ of $\square_{g}\phi=0$ grows to $+\infty$ as time increases. In this paper, we provide a rigorous proof of Friedman's instability. Our setting is, in fact, more general. We consider smooth spacetimes $(\mathcal{M}^{d+1},g)$, for any $d\ge2$, not necessarily globally real analytic. We impose only a unique continuation condition for the wave equation across the boundary $\partial\mathscr{E}$ of $\mathscr{E}$ on a small neighborhood of a point $p\in\partial\mathscr{E}$. This condition always holds if $(\mathcal{M},g)$ is analytic in that neighborhood of $p$, but it can also be inferred in the case when $(\mathcal{M},g)$ possesses a second Killing field $\Phi$ such that the span of $\Phi$ and the stationary Killing field $T$ is timelike on $\partial\mathscr{E}$. We also allow the spacetimes $(\mathcal{M},g)$ under consideration to possess a (possibly empty) future event horizon $\mathcal{H}^{+}$, such that, however, $\mathcal{H}^{+}\cap\mathscr{E}=\emptyset$ (excluding, thus, the Kerr exterior family). As an application of our theorem, we infer an instability result for the acoustical wave equation on the hydrodynamic vortex, a phenomenon first investigated numerically by Oliveira, Cardoso and Crispino. Furthermore, as a side benefit of our proof, we provide a derivation, based entirely on the vector field method, of a Carleman-type estimate on the exterior of the ergoregion for a general class of stationary and asymptotically flat spacetimes.