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What Is a Black Hole?

Curiel, Erik (2018) What Is a Black Hole? [Preprint]

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Abstract

Although black holes are objects of central importance across many fields of physics, there is no agreed upon definition for them, a fact that does not seem to be widely recognized. Physicists in different fields conceive of and reason about them in radically different, and often conflicting, ways. All those ways, however, seem sound in the relevant contexts. After examining and comparing many of the definitions used in practice, I consider the problems that the lack of a universally accepted definition leads to, and discuss whether one is in fact needed for progress in the physics of black holes. I conclude that, within reasonable bounds, the profusion of different definitions is in fact a virtue, making the investigation of black holes possible and fruitful in all the many different kinds of problems about them that physicists consider, although one must take care in trying to translate results between fields.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Curiel, Erikerik@strangebeautiful.com0000-0002-5812-3033
Additional Information: This paper has been accepted for publication in *Nature Astronomy*.
Keywords: black holes general relativity semi-classical gravity astrophysics quantum gravity
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User: Dr. Erik Curiel
Date Deposited: 05 Aug 2018 00:23
Last Modified: 05 Aug 2018 00:23
Item ID: 14917
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date: 4 August 2018
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14917

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