Related papers: Black Holes : A General Introduction
A brief overview of the discovery that macroscopic black holes are thermodynamical systems is presented. They satisfy the laws of thermodynamics and are associated with a temperature and an entropy equal to one quarter of their horizon area…
I outline the theory of accretion onto black holes, and its application to observed phenomena such as X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. The dynamics as well as radiative signatures of…
Vacuum Einstein theory in three spacetime dimensions is locally trivial, but admits many solutions that are globally different, particularly if there is a negative cosmological constant. The classical theory of such locally "anti-de Sitter"…
The horizon (the surface) of a black hole is a null surface, defined by those hypothetical "outgoing" light rays that just hover under the influence of the strong gravity at the surface. Because the light rays are orthogonal to the spatial…
Black holes are unique among astrophysical sources: they are the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe, and they are extraordinary in terms of their ability to convert energy into electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our…
A new model for the formation of active galaxies is described. A key feature of this model is the idea that the birth of black holes in the centers of supergiant galaxies is strongly influenced by the large-scale distribution of matter in…
Astrophysical black hole candidates, although long thought to have a horizon, could be horizonless ultra-compact objects. This intriguing possibility is motivated by the black hole information paradox and a plausible fundamental connection…
Black holes are extreme outcomes of General Relativity, and can form through a variety of ways, including gravitational collapse of massive stars, or quantum fluctuations in the early universe. Here, we ask the question of whether they can…
The holographic principle has revealed that physical systems in 3-D space, black holes included, are basically two-dimensional as far as their information content is concerned. This conclusion is complemented by one sketched here: as far as…
Binary black holes occupy a special place in our quest for understanding the evolution of galaxies along cosmic history. If massive black holes grow at the center of (pre-)galactic structures that experience a sequence of merger episodes,…
Though the main applications of computer simulations in relativity are to astrophysical systems such as black holes and neutron stars, nonetheless there are important applications of numerical methods to the investigation of general…
An attempt is made in order to clarify the so called regular black holes issue. It is revisited that if one works within General Relativity minimally coupled with non linear source, mainly of electromagnetic origin, and within a static…
Black holes are capable of reflection: there is a finite probability for any particle that approaches the event horizon to bounce back. The albedo of the black hole depends on its temperature and the energy of the incoming particle. The…
Classical GR governs the evolution of black holes for a long time, but at some exponentially large time it must break down. The breakdown, and what comes after it, is not well understood. In this paper I'll discuss the problem using…
So-called "regular black holes" are a topic currently of considerable interest in the general relativity and astrophysics communities. Herein we investigate a particularly interesting regular black hole spacetime described by the line…
Some aspects of black holes in supersymmetric theories of gravity are reviewed and some recent results outlined.
The Causal Set hypothesis asserts that spacetime, ultimately, is discrete and its underlying structure is that of a locally finite partial ordered set, and macroscopic causality reflects a deeper notion of order in terms of which all the…
Recent results show that important singularities in General Relativity can be naturally described in terms of finite and invariant canonical geometric objects. Consequently, one can write field equations which are equivalent to Einstein's…
In backgrounds with compact dimensions there may exist several phases of black objects including the black-hole and the black-string. The phase transition between them raises puzzles and touches fundamental issues such as topology change,…
Recent developments in the study of primordial black holes (PBHs) are reviewed, with particular emphasis on their formation and evaporation. It is still not clear whether PBHs formed but, if they did, they could provide a unique probe of…