Answer 2:
If general relativity is correct, then the
gravity inside of the event horizon of a
black hole is enough to collapse all matter
into a single point, a point where (I know
this sounds hard to grasp, but bear with me) time
itself comes to an end.
However, since not even light inside of an
event horizon can ever get out (under relativity,
not under quantum mechanics), we cannot see what
is actually going on inside of a black hole.
According to quantum mechanics, particles
do not have a fixed position in space, and so
might appear outside of a black hole
spontaneously (this also sounds weird, and it
is).
Some physicists think that gravity and
space-time itself is subject to quantum
mechanics, in which case this point also does
not have a single position.
However, what theory adequately describes this,
or if general relativity (which goes against
quantum mechanics) is genuinely right, is still
not known (and whoever finds out is going to get
the Nobel Prize).
As for black holes, our mathematical theories
predict that they have a number of really strange
properties. Physicists would love to actually get
a good look at a black hole to see if they do
indeed have all the properties that we predict
that they do. Click Here to return to the search form.
|