Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: We show that a globally hyperbolic spacetime containing a trapped surface and satisfying the strong energy condition and a condition on certain radial tidal forces must be timelike geodesically incomplete. This constitutes a ``timelike'' version of Penrose's celebrated singularity theorem. Recall that the latter concludes that certain spacetimes are null incomplete, providing the first theoretical evidence that black holes actually exist in our Universe. By concluding timelike instead of null incompleteness, we obtain, at the expense of stronger assumptions, a clearer physical interpretation and the existence of an event horizon.
Author: Leonardo García-Heveling
Institutions: Radboud University Nijmegen, Universität Hamburg
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4391377009