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Old 25-11-2010, 09:33 AM
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Robh (Rob)
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Location: Blue Mountains, Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjastro View Post
Rob,

The distortion of the event horizon is a property of angular momentum not gravity. In the case of dynamical black holes one needs to consider the angular momentum of the black holes rotating around a centre of mass.

Regards

Steven
Steven,

Interesting debate. I would suggest that the distortion of the event horizon would be a combination of both angular momentum and gravity. In my mind, it is reasonable to assume that two close black holes would create immense mutual gravitational disturbances that would deform the event horizon. After all, it is mass and hence gravity that defines the black hole's event horizon in the first place. The upper diagram in Craig's reference (previous post) indicates this distortion as the two black holes approach each in linear fashion (no orbital physics involved).

Regards, Rob
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