How To Destroy a Black Hole

KentuckyFC writes "The critical concept that makes a black hole black is the event horizon: a theoretical boundary in space through which light and other objects can pass in one direction but not the other. Since light cannot escape the event horizon, it must be black. The event horizon is a nuisance to astrophysicists because it hides the interesting new physics that must go on inside a black hole. What they would like is a way to get rid of the event horizon so that they can see what goes on behind it. It turns out that just such a thing may be possible, say physicists. According to the mathematics of general relativity, the event horizon should disappear if a black hole were fed enough charge and angular momentum relative to its mass. However the calculations are so fiendish (PDF) that nobody knows whether the black hole would shed this extra angular momentum and charge before it could settle into a stable 'naked' state. However, the possibility that the event horizon could be destroyed raises the question of what astrophysicists would see behind this veil. According to some, black holes are regions of spacetime with infinite curvature called singularities. Many believe that 'naked' singularities cannot exist in nature. And yet there are enough question marks to suggest that this mystery is far from settled."

Comments

Re:Gee, a little racist there?

[magsol]

You do realize that, within the realm of astrophysics, the term "light" typically refers to any sort of electromagnetic radiation? People in a pitch-black prison are still quite visible in terms of all the other wavelengths of "light" they emit and reflect.

Unless this post was a troll, in which case: stfu, gtfo, and diaf.

Re:I know what's inside.

[dragonsomnolent]

As a Moody Blues fan, your list struck a chord with me (I don't care if the pun is horrible, I've got karma to burn)

it's easy to destroy a black hole

[roman_mir]

first, please, it's not politically correct, they don't like it to be named black anymore, it's an African American hole. Past this, it's fairly easy to destroy the black hole. Paint it in 7 different colors and then tell it that it's OK to come out, they are getting rid of the don't ask don't tell policy.