The ultimate trap: a tale of horizons, singularities, and black holes. Outreach colloquium on the occasion of The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020

Outreach colloquium on black hole formation as a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity.

More than fifty years ago, a young mathematician called Roger Penrose revolutionized the study of gravity and spacetime by introducing the idea of a “trapped surface”: a region where the pull of gravity is so strong that spacetime is inevitably led to a mysterious singularity. This result is so important that last year Penrose was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for “showing that Einstein's theory leads to the formation of black holes, those monsters in time and space”. Isn't it fascinating? Sure, but, actually, what does it mean?

This is a Free Online (Zoom) event hosted by the Institute Superior Técnico, Lisbon as part of the Iberian Strings 2021 Conference, an annual gathering of string theorists from the Iberian Peninsula and friends.

Come, take a leap into the mighty unknown!
 

About the Author

Roberto Emparan is an ICREA researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona, ​​he is one of our most internationally recognized physicists in the field of gravity, black holes and superchord theories. His research focuses on the study of gravity, the structure of space-time, and black holes, in both classical and quantum aspects. He has published nearly 100 research articles and taught over 150 invited talks and lectures on black holes, string theory, and cosmology.