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Gravitational singularity

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Gravitational Lensing by a black hole. Animated simulation of gravitational lensing caused by


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General relativity

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Wormhole

Equations

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Scientists[show]

A gravitational singularity or spacetime singularity is a location where the force of


gravity has become effectively infinite, and the quantities that are used to measure the
gravitational field of a singularity become infinite in a way that does not depend on
the coordinate system from the standpoint of any observer of the singularity. These
quantities are the scalar invariant curvatures of spacetime, which includes a measure
of the density of matter. The laws of normal spacetime could not exist within a
singularity and it is currently postulated that matter cannot cross the event horizon of
a singularity due to the effects of time dialation.[1][2][3] Singularities are theorized to
exist at the center of Black Holes, within Cosmic Strings, and as leftover remants
from the early formation of the Universe following the Big Bang. Although
gravitational singularities were proposed by Einstein in his General Relativity Theory,
their existence has not been confirmed. [4][5][6][7]

For the purposes of proving the PenroseHawking singularity theorems, a spacetime


with a singularity is defined to be one that contains geodesics that cannot be extended
in a smooth manner.[8] The end of such a geodesic is considered to be the singularity.
This is a different definition, useful for proving theorems.[9][10]

The two most important types of spacetime singularities are curvature singularities
and conical singularities.[11] Singularities can also be divided according to whether or
not they are covered by an event horizon (naked singularities are not covered).[12]
According to modern general relativity, the initial state of the universe, at the
beginning of the Big Bang, was a singularity.[13] Both general relativity and quantum
mechanics break down in describing the Big Bang,[14] but in general, quantum
mechanics does not permit particles to inhabit a space smaller than their wavelengths
(See: Wave-particle_duality).[15]

Another type of singularity predicted by general relativity is inside a black hole: any
star collapsing beyond a certain point (the Schwarzschild radius) would form a black
hole, inside which a singularity (covered by an event horizon) would be formed, as all
the matter would flow into a certain point (or a circular line, if the black hole is
rotating).[16] This is again according to general relativity without quantum mechanics,
which forbids wavelike particles entering a space smaller than their wavelength.
These hypothetical singularities are also known as curvature singularities.

Contents
1 Supporting Theories
o 1.1 Supersymmetry Theory

o 1.2 Black Hole Information Paradox


2 Types of Singularities
o 2.1 Curvature
o 2.2 Conical
o 2.3 Naked
3 Counter Theories
o 3.1 Loop Quantum Gravity
o 3.2 Einstein-Cartan Theory
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading

Supporting Theories
Supersymmetry Theory

Main article: Supersymmetry

In theoretical modeling with supersymmetry theory, a singularity in the moduli space


(a geometric space using coordinates to model objects, observers, or locations)
happens usually when there are additional massless degrees of freedom (dimensions)
at a certain point. Similarly, in String Theory and in M Theory, it is thought that
singularities in spacetime often mean that there are additional degrees of freedom
(physical dimensions beyond the four dimensions described by General Relativity)
that exist only within the vicinity of the singularity. The same fields related to the
whole spacetime are postulated to also exist according to this theory; for example, the
electromagnetic field. In known examples of string theory, the latter degrees of
freedom are related to closed strings, while the degrees of freedom are "stuck" to the
singularity and related either to open strings or to the twisted sector of an orbifold (A
theoretical construct of abstract mathematics). This is however, only a theory.[17][18]

Black Hole Information Paradox

Main article: Black hole information paradox

A theory supported by Stephen Hawkings called the Black hole information paradox
postulates that matter cannot cross the event horizon of a singularity or black hole and
remains as stored information just beyond the event horizon and is slowly released as
Hawking radiation or held at the event horizon permanently due to the effects of time
dialation. "The information is not stored in the interior of the black hole as one might
expect, but in its boundary - the event horizon," he told a conference at the KTH
Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. (meaning that as matter enters
the event horizon of a black hole the deeper it travels inside the black hole, the slower
time flows for that matter relative to an observer outside the black hole watching the
matter travel through the event horizon. Time essentially slows until it virtually stops
as the matter reaches the event horizon of the singularity and can never make it to the
center and is held there forever).[19]

Types of Singularities
Curvature

A simple illustration of a non-spinning Black hole and its singularity

Solutions to the equations of general relativity or another theory of gravity (such as


supergravity) often result in encountering points where the metric blows up to infinity.
However, many of these points are completely regular, and the infinities are merely a
result of using an inappropriate coordinate system at this point (meaning that
Einsteins partial differential equations that describe spacetime curvature and gravity
produce infinite values if you provide bad data). In order to test whether there is a
singularity at a certain point, one must check whether at this point diffeomorphism
invariant quantities (coordinates in a coordinate system describing an observer in such
a way that the relationships of the physical law being tested do not vary based on the
coordinates of the observer being at different locations) which are scalars become
infinite (a scalar is a pure number representing a value, like length). Such quantities
are the same in every coordinate system, so these infinities will not "go away" by a
change of coordinates. (when proper coordinate systems are used to describe an
observers location, no matter what system is employed, a singularity will always
produce these infinites using Einstein's partial differential equations to describe space
time curvature).

An example is the Schwarzschild solution that describes a non-rotating, uncharged


black hole. In coordinate systems convenient for working in regions far away from the
black hole, a part of the metric becomes infinite at the event horizon. However,
spacetime at the event horizon is regular. The regularity becomes evident when
changing to another coordinate system (such as the Kruskal coordinates), where the
metric is perfectly smooth. On the other hand, in the center of the black hole, where
the metric becomes infinite as well, the solutions suggest a singularity exists. The
existence of the singularity can be verified by noting that the Kretschmann scalar,
being the square of the Riemann tensor i.e. , which is diffeomorphism
invariant, is infinite. While in a non-rotating black hole the singularity occurs at a
single point in the model coordinates, called a "point singularity". In a rotating black
hole, also known as a Kerr black hole, the singularity occurs on a ring (a circular
line), known as a "ring singularity". Such a singularity may also theoretically become
a wormhole.[20]

Conical

A conical singularity occurs when there is a point where the limit of every
diffeomorphism invariant quantity is finite, in which case spacetime is not smooth at
the point of the limit itself. Thus, spacetime looks like a cone around this point, where
the singularity is located at the tip of the cone. The metric can be finite everywhere if
a suitable coordinate system is used. An example of such a conical singularity is a
cosmic string. Cosmic strings are theoretical, and their existence has not yet been
confirmed. [21]

Naked

Main article: Naked singularity

Until the early 1990s, it was widely believed that general relativity hides every
singularity behind an event horizon, making naked singularities impossible. This is
referred to as the cosmic censorship hypothesis. However, in 1991, physicists Stuart
Shapiro and Saul Teukolsky performed computer simulations of a rotating plane of
dust that indicated that general relativity might allow for "naked" singularities. What
these objects would actually look like in such a model is unknown. Nor is it known
whether singularities would still arise if the simplifying assumptions used to make the
simulation were removed.[22][23][24]

Counter Theories
Loop Quantum Gravity

Main article: loop quantum gravity

Some theories, such as the theory of loop quantum gravity suggest that singularities
may not exist. The idea is that due to quantum gravity effects, there is a minimum
distance beyond which the force of gravity no longer continues to increase as the
distance between the masses becomes shorter.[25][26]

Einstein-Cartan Theory

Main article: EinsteinCartan theory

The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity naturally averts the gravitational


singularity at the Big Bang. This theory extends general relativity to matter with
intrinsic angular momentum (spin) by removing a constraint of the symmetry of the
affine connection and regarding its antisymmetric part, the torsion tensor, as a
variable in varying the action. The minimal coupling between torsion and Dirac
spinors generates a spinspin interaction in fermionic matter, which becomes
dominant at extremely high densities and prevents the scale factor of the Universe
from reaching zero. The Big Bang is replaced by a cusp-like Big Bounce at which the
matter has an enormous but finite density and before which the Universe was
contracting (what is theorized is that matter exerts a counterforce based upon the spin
(angular momentum) which is present in all fermionic matter that will resist the
effects of gravity beyond a certain point of compression and a singularity can never
fully form). [27]

See also
0-dimensional singularity: magnetic monopole
1-dimensional singularity: cosmic string
2-dimensional singularity: domain wall
Fuzzball (string theory)
Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems

Notes
1. "Hawking: Black holes store information".
2. "Blackholes and Wormholes".
3. "Spacetime Singularities".
4. Copeland, Edmund J; Myers, Robert C; Polchinski, Joseph (2004).
"Cosmic F- and D-strings". Journal of High Energy Physics 2004 (6): 013.
arXiv:hep-th/0312067. Bibcode:2004JHEP...06..013C. doi:10.1088/1126-
6708/2004/06/013.
5. M. Bojowald. "Living Rev. Rel. 8, (2005), 11".
6. R. Goswami & P. Joshi. "Phys. Rev. D, (2008)".
7. R. Goswami, P. Joshi, & P. Singh. "Phys. Rev. Letters, (2006), 96".
8. Moulay, Emmanuel. "The universe and photons" (PDF). FQXi
Foundational Questions Institute. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
9. "Blackholes and Wormholes".
10. "Spacetime Singularities".
11. Uggla, Claes. "Spacetime singularities". Einstein Online. Max Planck
Institute for Gravitational Physics.
12. Patrick Di Justo; Kevin Grazier; Patrick Grazier & Kevin Grazier
(2010). The Science of Battlestar Galactica. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
p. 181. ISBN 978-0470399095.
13. Wald, p. 99
14. Hawking, Stephen. "The Beginning of Time". Stephen Hawking: The
Official Website. Cambridge University. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
15. Zebrowski, Ernest (2000). A History of the Circle: Mathematical
Reasoning and the Physical Universe. Piscataway NJ: Rutgers University
Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0813528984.
16. Curiel, Erik & Peter Bokulich. "Singularities and Black Holes".
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center for the Study of Language and
Information, Stanford University. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
17. "Singularity-theory and N=2 supersymmetry".
18. "Supersymmetry Breaking from a Calabi-Yau Singularity".
19. "Hawking: Black holes store information".
20. If a rotating singularity is given a uniform electrical charge, a repellent
force results, causing a ring singularity to form. The effect may be a stable
wormhole, a non-point-like puncture in spacetime that may be connected to a
second ring singularity on the other end. Although such wormholes are often
suggested as routes for faster-than-light travel, such suggestions ignore the
problem of escaping the black hole at the other end, or even of surviving the
immense tidal forces in the tightly curved interior of the wormhole.
21. Copeland, Edmund J; Myers, Robert C; Polchinski, Joseph (2004).
"Cosmic F- and D-strings". Journal of High Energy Physics 2004 (6): 013.
arXiv:hep-th/0312067. Bibcode:2004JHEP...06..013C. doi:10.1088/1126-
6708/2004/06/013.
22. M. Bojowald. "Living Rev. Rel. 8, (2005), 11".
23. R. Goswami & P. Joshi. "Phys. Rev. D, (2008)".
24. R. Goswami, P. Joshi, & P. Singh. "Phys. Rev. Letters, (2006), 96".
25. On (Cosmological) Singularity Avoidance in Loop Quantum Gravity,
Johannes Brunnemann, Thomas Thiemann, Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006)
1395-1428.
26. Unboundedness of Triad -- Like Operators in Loop Quantum Gravity,
Johannes Brunnemann, Thomas Thiemann, Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006)
1429-1484.
27. Poplawski, N. J. (2012). "Nonsingular, big-bounce cosmology from
spinor-torsion coupling". Physical Review D 85: 107502. arXiv:1111.4595.
Bibcode:2012PhRvD..85j7502P. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.85.107502.

References
Hawking, S. W.; Penrose, R. (1970), "The Singularities of Gravitational
Collapse and Cosmology", Proc R. Soc. A 314 (1519): 529548,
Bibcode:1970RSPSA.314..529H, doi:10.1098/rspa.1970.0021 (Free access.)
Shapiro, Stuart L.; Teukolsky, Saul A. (1991). "Formation of naked
singularities: The violation of cosmic censorship". Physical Review Letters 66
(8): 994997. Bibcode:1991PhRvL..66..994S.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.994. PMID 10043968.
Robert M. Wald (1984). General Relativity. University of Chicago Press.
ISBN 0-226-87033-2.
Misner, Charles W.; Thorne, Kip; Wheeler, John Archibald (1973).
Gravitation. W. H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0344-0. 31.2 The nonsingularity
of the gravitational radius, and following sections; 34 Global Techniques,
Horizons, and Singularity Theorems

Roger Penrose(1996)"Chandrasekhar, Black Holes, and Singularities"


Roger Penrose(1999)"The Question of Cosmic Censorship"
. P. Singh"Gravitational Collapse, Black Holes and Naked Singularities"

Further reading
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. This book provides a layman's
introduction to string theory, although some of the views expressed are already
becoming outdated. His use of common terms and his providing of examples
throughout the text help the layperson understand the basics of string theory.

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