Abstract

The generalization of the black hole in three-dimensional spacetime to include an electric charge Q in addition to the mass M and the angular momentum J is given. The field equations are first solved explicitly when Q is small and the general form of the field at large distances is established. The total "hairs" M, J and Q are exhibited as boundary terms at infinity. It is found that the inner horizon of the rotating uncharged black hole is unstable under the addition of a small electric charge. Next it is shown that when Q=0 the spinning black hole may be obtained from the one with J=0 by a Lorentz boost in the ?-t plane. This boost is an "illegitimate coordinate transformation" because it changes the physical parameters of the solution. The extreme black hole appears as the analog of a particle moving with the speed of light. The same boost may be used when Q?0 to generate a solution with angular momentum from that with J=0, although the geometrical meaning of the transformation is much less transparent since in the charged case the black holes are not obtained by identifying points in anti-de Sitter space. The metric is given explicitly in terms of three parameters, M?, Q? and ? which are the "rest mass" and "rest charge" and the angular velocity of the boost. These parameters are related to M, J and Q through the solution of an algebraic cubic equation. Altogether, even without angular momentum, the electrically charged 2+1 black hole is somewhat pathological since (i) it exists for arbitrarily negative values of the mass, and (ii) there is no upper bound on the electric charge. ©2000 The American Physical Society.