Black holes are undoubtedly one of the most fascinating discoveries of modern astronomy, and their description one of the most daring intellectual feats of modern times. They have already become legendary, forming the basis of many myths, fantasies and science fiction movies. Are they really the monsters which devour light and stars; bottomless celestial pits into which all matter is sucked and crushed? Are they an observable reality, or are they just hypothetical objects from the theory of relativity? In answering such questions the author takes us on a fabulous journey through space and time. Dr Jean-Pierre Luminet is an astronomer at Meudon Observatory in France, a specialist on the subject of black holes, and has also acquired a reputation for being a gifted writer and communicator. In this book he makes the subject of black holes accessible to any interested reader, who will need no mathematical background.

Providing an introduction to the fascinating subject of black holes, this book is suitable for advanced undergraduates and first year postgraduates. It offers an introduction to the exact solutions of Einstein's vacuum field equations, describing spherical and axisymmetric (rotating) black holes.

Black Holes are still considered to be among the most mysterious and fascinating objects in our universe. Awaiting the era of gravitational astronomy, much progress in theoretical modeling and understanding of classical and quantum black holes has already been achieved. The present volume serves as a tutorial, high-level guided tour through the black-hole landscape: information paradox and blackhole thermodynamics, numerical simulations of black-hole formation and collisions, braneworld scenarios and stability of black holes with respect to perturbations are treated in great detail, as is their possible occurrence at the LHC. An outgrowth of a topical and tutorial summer school, this extensive set of carefully edited notes has been set up with the aim of constituting an advanced-level, multi-authored textbook which meets the needs of both postgraduate students and young researchers in the fields of modern cosmology, astrophysics and (quantum) field theory.

On December 26, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves generated from merging black holes for the first time in human history. Through an engaging, easily accessible approach, the origins, dynamics, and ultimate fate of black holes are thoroughly unraveled so that students without a scientific background can grasp complex physics theories. This book supports the Next Generation Science Standards' emphasis on scientific collection and analysis of data and evidence-based theories by discussing the methods research universities and space agencies use to explore black holes.

One of the most exciting predictions of Einstein's theory of gravitationisthat there may exist 'black holes': putative objects whose gravitational fields are so strong that no physical bodies and signals can break free of their pull and escape. Even though a completely reliable discovery of a black hole has not yet been made, several objects among those scrutinized by astrophysicists will very likely be conformed as black holes. The proof that they do exist, and an analysis of their properties, would have a significance going far beyond astrophysics. Indeed, what is involved is not just the discovery of yet another, even if extremely remarkable, astrophysical object, but a test of the correctness of our understanding the properties of space and time in extremely strong gravitational fields. Theoretical research into the properties of black holes and into the possible corollaries of the hypothesis that they exist, has been carried out with special vigor since the beginning of the 1970s. In addition to those specific features of black holes that are important for the interpretation of their possible astrophysical manifestations, the theory has revealed a nurober of unexpected characteristics of physical interactions involving black holes. By now, a fairly detailed understanding has been achieved of the properties of the black holes, their possible astrophysical manifestations, and the specifics of the various physical processes involved. Furthermore, profound links were found between black-hole theory and such seemingly very distant fields as thermodynamics, information theory, and quantum theory.

This eBook explores current (and past) theories pertaining to the existence of black holes in our universe. It aims to provide its readers with a fundamental understanding of what black holes are, what they are composed of, and where they developed.

This Brief presents in a self-contained, non-technical and illustrative fashion the state-of-the-art results and techniques for the dynamics of extremal black holes. Extremal black holes are, roughly speaking, either maximally rotating or maximally charged. Astronomical observations suggest that near-extremal (stellar or supermassive) black holes are ubiquitous in the universe. The book presents various recently discovered characteristic phenomena (such as the horizon instability) that have enhanced our understanding of the dynamics of extremal black holes. The topics should be of interest to pure mathematicians, theoretical physicists and astronomers. This book provides common ground for communication between these scientific communities.

Introduction Space, the final frontier… to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life,and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. ~ Gene Roddenberry *** The universe is full of surprises! We can find amazing things like galaxies, planets, comets, asteroids, moons, meteorites, and more! One of the strangest objects we can find in space is called a… black hole. Have you ever heard of black holes? What do you know about them? Let’s learn more! Black holes are dark areas in space with strong gravity. Not all black holes are black and we cannot see them, but we know they are there. How do we know they exist even though we can’t see them? Scientists study the things that happen around a black hole, and that tells them a black hole is there. The force of a black hole is so strong light cannot escape. Do you know what happens to light when it gets near a black hole? Strong gravity pulls light and everything else into the center. It is so strong that nothing escapes the powerful force, and everything falls in! Black holes come in lots of different sizes. Some are big, and some are small. Some black holes are so big; they are called supermassive black holes. That’s a big, big hole! Black holes affect not only space but time too. How so? Did you know time changes when you get near a black hole? Yes, it does! This is because of Einstein’s theory of relativity. Let’s find out how black holes work and what else we can learn about this mysterious force in the universe!

The ideas presented in this book are new scientific theories based largely upon a spate of very recent astronomical observations. These theories include: a cosmological model that appears to be superior, in many respects, to the inflationary "concordance model"; proposed thermal stability criteria for a generic quantum black hole; theoretical constraints concerning black hole binary graviton emissions; theoretical effects of abelian vortices on space-time; and a proposed solution to the mystery of the observed asymmetry between universal matter and antimatter. The new ideas presented in this book have been selected in order to inspire others that, regardless of the impending limits of observation, the scientific creative process will continue.

Though discovered by scientists only a few decades ago, black holes have become a major object of public fascination and speculation. But how do black holes actually work? And how do they drive the processes we observe in the universe? Black Holes, the second book in an ongoing astronomy series by Rajeev Raghuram, gives an informed overview of black hole physics, spacetime, and the impact of this phenomenon on our universe. Written for a young adult audience, this book synthesizes the latest scientific discoveries and the equations that describe them, presenting this complex, fascinating information in highly accessible terms. Key topics include how black holes form; how they interact with one another; the methods that scientists use to study them; and the physics of spacetime that explain the structure of black holes and point to the possibility of wormholes—even other universes! Equations fundamental to understanding black holes are explained in detail, and numerous diagrams illustrate what happens inside them and how they relate to time and other universes.