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I have a question for any physicists here. Due to my engineering background, I know just enough physics and mathematics to completely misunderstand general rel

I have a question for any physicists here. Due to my engineering background, I know just enough physics and mathematics to completely misunderstand general relativity and quantum mechanics. However, one pattern I have noticed is that one favorite past time of physicists is looking at the mathematical models, trying to find insane ass edge cases and then trying to interpret them. With that in mind, do these equations allow black holes whose singularities extend beyond their event horizons?

automatic6131 1mo ago
Yeah. I can't do the physics myself, so I take on faith (heh) that a sufficiently fast rotating blackhole has a ring shaped singularity that can extend outside its' event horizon. This was news in the 90s and it was a plot point in at least two scifi books, though I don't think I can recommend either
- davidgrenier 1mo ago
  I was assuming the event horizon would also have a donut shape around the ring singularity.
fooker 1mo ago
The reason is that these edge cases often expose where the current models can break down. If the current accepted theory is predicting negative mass or infinite mass, it doesn't really mean that a physicist deeply believes we are going to be finding particles with negative mass. It's more likely we'll find a better theory. In some rare cases, these mathematical oddities do turn out to be real. We found equations producing negative energy as solutions long before we discovered antimatter.
jiggawatts 1mo ago
This is the "cosmic censorship hypothesis": singularities are always hidden by an event horizon and can never be observed without falling victim to them. Or more accurately, any observer of a singularity can never communicate that information to someone who is not a victim. This is hypothetical, and not at all "proven" in any meaningful sense.
irjustin 1mo ago
Is this a variation of a naked black hole/singularity? If so, PBS space time has one on it[0]. Upshot is if you spin it fast enough... acgoiawef.awef? [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5fnwUmTSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5fnwUmTSY

automatic6131 1mo ago

Yeah. I can't do the physics myself, so I take on faith (heh) that a sufficiently fast rotating blackhole has a ring shaped singularity that can extend outside its' event horizon. This was news in the 90s and it was a plot point in at least two scifi books, though I don't think I can recommend either

davidgrenier 1mo ago
I was assuming the event horizon would also have a donut shape around the ring singularity.

fooker 1mo ago

The reason is that these edge cases often expose where the current models can break down. If the current accepted theory is predicting negative mass or infinite mass, it doesn't really mean that a physicist deeply believes we are going to be finding particles with negative mass. It's more likely we'll find a better theory. In some rare cases, these mathematical oddities do turn out to be real. We found equations producing negative energy as solutions long before we discovered antimatter.

jiggawatts 1mo ago

This is the "cosmic censorship hypothesis": singularities are always hidden by an event horizon and can never be observed without falling victim to them. Or more accurately, any observer of a singularity can never communicate that information to someone who is not a victim. This is hypothetical, and not at all "proven" in any meaningful sense.

irjustin 1mo ago

Is this a variation of a naked black hole/singularity? If so, PBS space time has one on it[0]. Upshot is if you spin it fast enough... acgoiawef.awef? [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5fnwUmTSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5fnwUmTSY