Towards a Non-singular Paradigm of Black Hole Physics
IFPU
11-15 November
Black holes contain, deep in their interior, theoretical evidence of the shortcomings of general relativity. A series of fundamental results, starting with the 1965 Penrose singularity theorem, proved that physically realistic initial conditions will unavoidably produce black holes with singular cores. Singularities inside black holes represent the breakdown of the very notion of spacetime, thus indicating that general relativity cannot fully describe the interior of black holes.
The general consensus is that singularities are mathematical artefacts, and that quantum grav- ity effects should be able to avoid the formation of singularities and therefore yield a non-singular description of black hole interiors. The development of these so-called non-singular black holes is a very active research area in theoretical black hole physics.
On the other hand, in recent years our capabilities to test black hole spacetimes have vastly increased due to gravitational-wave astronomy and very-large baseline interferometry (VLBI). This has produced growing interest in the study of the theory and the phenomenology of non-singular black holes. One of the most important questions is how closely can non-singular black holes mimic the phenomenology of general-relativistic black holes.
This program will be focused on the open issues that must be addressed to construct viable models of non-singular black holes, as well as understanding the associated phenomenological signatures and the feasibility of testing these in forthcoming observations.
Organisers:
- Francesco Di Filippo (Charles University, Prague)
Stefano Liberati (SISSA, Trieste)
Participants:
- TBA