The Myriad Details of Black Holes
Constructed and written by Pauline Fusco
For PHYS 201 and Professor David Newman of University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fall 2002
Introduction
Definition: Black holes are rapidly spinning stellar bodies of incredible mass. A typical black hole has a mass many times that of our own sun , but the size approaches point density. For all intents and purposes, black holes are singularities, a fact that many physicists find contradictory, since in general the universe abhors a singularity. They are formed when a large sun exhausts its fuel and collapses to a very small volume. Of course, conservation of angular momentum and mass hold true, so as the star shrinks, it rotates faster and faster, and its density becomes greater and greater. Eventually, the star becomes so dense that space-time curves so much in its vicinity that not even light can escape. For more on space-time, click on curved space time at the bottom of the page.
Black holes are fascinating phenomena. Only recently have physicists begun to even find proof of their existence, and yet their unique physical properties have extraordinary and galaxies-wide effects. The physics to truly understand the underpinnings of black holes have only been around since 1915 when Einstein conceived and presented his General Theory of Relativity, in which gravity is considered in terms of curved space-time. However, in Exposition of the System of the World, written over a hundred years earlier in 1798, Laplace predicted that masses of sufficient size would have a gravitational attraction so large that light itself could not escape. Stephen Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time-- perhaps the most successful cogent popular science book ever written-- and an extraordinary physicist, wrote one of the definitive papers on the physics behind black holes. (and then interestingly enough, recanted his once firm belief that black holes even existed--at which time he married his nurse. Physicists are eccentrics in a long and noble tradition.
Lest I leave you with the drab idea that black holes are boring, I must insist that you look further and click on these links………I promise, less writing, more pretty pictures!………good luck………!
Colliding Black Holes
More About Black Holes
curved space time
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