Are higher order membranes stable in black hole spacetimes

We continue the study of the existence and stability of static spherical membrane configurations in curved spacetimes. We first consider higher order membranes described by a Lagrangian which, in addition to the Dirac term, includes a term proportional to the scalar curvature of the world volume {sup (3)}R. Notably, in this case, the equations of motion can be reduced to second order ones and an effective potential analysis can be made. The conditions for stability are then explicitly derived. We find a self-consistent static spherical membrane, determining the spacetime generated by the membrane itself. In this case we find, however, that the total energy of the membrane has to be negative, and no {ital stable} equilibrium can be achieved. We then generalize the discussion to a membrane described by a Lagrangian including all possible second derivative terms. We conclude the paper with some discussion on the generality of the results obtained. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}