Related papers: Massive Compact Objects in a Quantum Theory of Gra…
This short review is addressed to cosmologists. General relativity predicts that space-time comes to an end and physics comes to a halt at the big-bang. Recent developments in loop quantum cosmology have shown that these predictions cannot…
It is shown that gravitational theory allows stable equilibrium configurations of the degenerated Fermi gas, whose masses are many times as large as the Sun. They have no events horizon at the Schwarzchild radius from the center. They are…
The formation of compact objects like stars and black holes is strongly constrained by the requirement that nearly all of the initial angular momentum of the diffuse material from which they form must be removed or redistributed during the…
The critical collapse of a scalar field is a threshold solution of black hole formation, in which a naked singularity arises. We study here the curvature strength of this singularity using a numerical ansatz. The behavior of the Jacobi…
About one-fourth of the universe is thought to consist of dark matter. Yet there is no clear understanding about the nature of these particles. Commonly discussed dark matter candidates includes the so called WIMPs or weakly interacting…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity that embrace conformal coupling to the scalar curvature are the focal point of cosmology on discussions of inflation and late-time accelerating universe. Although there exists a stringent nucleo-synthesis…
A distorted black hole radiates gravitational waves in order to settle down in one of the geometries permitted by the no-hair theorem. During that relaxation phase, a characteristic damped ringing is generated. It can be theoretically…
We describe 4D evaporating black holes as quantum field configurations by solving the semi-classical Einstein equation $G_{\mu\nu}=8\pi G \langle \psi|T_{\mu\nu}|\psi \rangle$ and quantum matter fields in a self-consistent manner. As the…
This paper proves a theorem about the existence of an apparent horizon in general relativity, which applies equally well to vacuum configurations and matter configurations. The theorem uses the reciprocal of the surface-to-volume ratio of a…
General Relativity allows for a unique black hole solution, characterized by its mass M, angular momentum J, and electric charge Q. Black holes in General Relativity are thus said to have no hair, that is, no other independent physical…
The spherical gravitational collapse of a compact packet consisting of perfect fluid is studied. The spacetime outside the fluid packet is described by the out-going Vaidya radiation fluid. It is found that when the collapse has continuous…
We describe how a certain simple modification of general relativity, in which the local cosmological constant is allowed to depend on the space-time curvature, predicts the existence of halos of modified gravity surrounding…
We study the process, within classical general relativity, in which an incident gravitational plane wave, of weak amplitude and long wavelength, scatters off a massive spinning compact object, such as a black hole or neutron star. The…
We show that if a massive body is put in a quantum superposition of spatially separated states, the mere presence of a black hole in the vicinity of the body will eventually destroy the coherence of the superposition. This occurs because,…
The frozen star is a type of black hole mimicker: An ultracompact object whose exterior geometry resembles that of a general-relativistic black hole but differs in its matter composition and in the regularity of its interior geometry. It is…
The article summarizes the observational evidence for the existence of massive black holes, as well as the current knowledge about their abundance, their mass and spin distributions, and their cosmic evolution within and together with their…
This article gives an elementary review of gravitational collapse and the cosmic censorship hypothesis. Known models of collapse resulting in the formation of black holes and naked singularities are summarized. These models, when taken…
The definition of matter states on spacelike hypersurfaces of a 1+1 dimensional black hole spacetime is considered. Because of small quantum fluctuations in the mass of the black hole, the usual approximation of treating the gravitational…
The idea that gravity can act as a regulator of ultraviolet divergences is almost a century old and has inspired several approaches to quantum gravity. In fact, a minimum Planckian length can be shown to emerge from the nonlinear dynamics…
I discuss features required for preserving unitarity in black hole decay and concepts underlying such a perspective. Unitarity requires that correlations extend on the scale of the horizon. I show, in a toy model inspired by string…