Related papers: Well-behaved relativity: regular black holes
We derive and critically examine the consequences that follow from the formation of a regular black or white hole horizon in finite time of a distant observer. In spherical symmetry, only two distinct classes of solutions to the…
Penrose's singularity theorem implies that if a trapped region forms in a gravitational collapse, then a singularity must form as well within such region. However, it is widely expected that singularities should be generically avoided by…
Black holes have the peculiar and intriguing property of having an event horizon, a one-way membrane causally separating their internal region from the rest of the Universe. Today astrophysical observations provide some evidence for the…
Black holes merge together different field of physics. From General Relativity over thermodynamics and quantum field theory, they do now also reach into the regime of particle and collider physics. In the presence of additional compactified…
I review elements of the foundations of black-hole theory with attention to problematic issues, and describe some techniques which either seem to help with the difficulties or at least investigate their scope. The definition of black holes…
The possible existence of black holes has fascinated scientists at least since Michell and Laplace's proposal that a gravitating object could exist from which light could not escape. In the 20th century, in light of the general theory of…
The Hawking-Penrose singularity theorem states that a singularity forms inside a black hole in general relativity. To remove this singularity one must resort to a more fundamental theory. Using a corrected dynamical equation arising in loop…
We derive universal properties of the near-horizon geometry of spherically symmetric black holes that follow from the observability of a regular apparent horizon. Only two types of solutions are admissible. After reviewing their properties…
The existence of extremely dark and compact astronomical bodies is by now a well established observational fact. On the other hand, classical General Relativity predicts the existence of black holes which fit very well with the…
We argue that near-future detections of gravitational waves from merging black hole binaries can test a long-standing proposal, originally due Bekenstein and Mukhanov, that the areas of black hole horizons are quantized in integer multiples…
Ten short years ago, we had the rare privilege of witnessing the onset of a renaissance in science: humanity finally succeeded in its arduous quest to directly detect gravitational waves. This breakthrough did not occur in a vacuum: it was…
In this chapter I focus on asking and answering the following questions: (1) What is a black hole? Answer: There are three types of black holes, namely mathematical black holes, physical black holes and astrophysical black holes. An…
Do observations of black hole candidates rule out alternative theories of gravity without horizon formation? This depends on the existence, viability and reasonableness of alternative theories of gravity without black holes. Here a theory…
Physically relevant solutions in general relativity often contain spacetime singularities, which are typically interpreted as a sign of breakdown of the theory at high densities/curvatures. Hence, there has been a growing interest in…
Black hole mimickers are possible alternatives to black holes, they would look observationally almost like black holes but would have no horizon. The properties in the near-horizon region where gravity is strong can be quite different for…
The recent observation of gravitational waves by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration provides a unique opportunity to probe the extreme gravity of coalescing binary black holes. In this regime, the gravitational interaction is not only strong, but…
In the three-dimensional pure Einstein gravity, the geometries of the vacuum space-times are always trivial, and gravitational waves (gravitons) are strictly forbidden. For the first time, we find a vacuum circularly symmetric black hole…
Black holes in general relativity are characterized by their trapping horizon, a one-way membrane that can be crossed only inwards. The existence of trapping horizons in astrophysical black holes can be tested observationally using a…
The existence of black holes is one of the key predictions of general relativity (GR) and therefore a basic consistency test for modified theories of gravity. In the case of spherical symmetry in GR the existence of an apparent horizon and…
There is growing evidence that Ho\v{r}ava gravity may be a viable quantum theory of gravity. It is thus legitimate to expect that gravitational collapse in the full, non-projectable version of the theory should result in geometries that are…