Quote:
On 2002-03-04 01:25, Azpod wrote:
I think the main thing is the event horizon, not the singularity. If the singularity take an infinite amount of time to form, the event horizon still exists. If the event horizon still exists, then the black hole can evaporate. I expect that the experiment, should they succeed in creating a black hole, will explain some of the structure of a black hole, possibly including the question about the formation of the singularity.
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Now I think I see what informant was asking.
Yes, the singularity would never truly form. If we could directly measure the radius of a black hole, we would get infinity. When we talk about the radius of a black hole, we are actually refering to the reduced circumference, the circumference divided by 2 pi. This is an observer independent quantity.
While the singularity has not formed, there can still be an event horizon. Thus if enough mass to create a black hole of radius 1 km were compacted into a sphere of radius 1mm, there would be an event horizon at 1 km. You don't need a singularity to have an event horizon because when we determine the field outside of a body, we can treat that body as point source.
Mostly, I think this shows we still have a long way to go before we truly understand what happens inside a black hole.