Quote:
Originally Posted by smenkhare
Hi.
Can someone explain to me what may be a very stupid question.
Are black holes supposed to be actual physical objects in space or mathematical concepts? Different things I read seem to suggest both ways.
Thanks.
Pete
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The maths behind Black Holes originated to describe the curvature of space-time around massive bodies such as the Sun. The mathematics contained two singularities which early researchers including Einstein dismissed as having no physical significance.
It was decades later that researchers began to explore the physical significance of the singularities.
One of these singularities was found to be a "mathematical singularity" which would disappear by changing the coordinate system describing space-time, the other a "physical singularity" remained.
The answer to your question is both.
One cannot categorically state that Black Holes exist although the indirect evidence is overwhelming, from the Keplarian orbits of stars at the centre of our galaxy around a supermassive yet undetectable object, to the absence of signature X-ray emissions in certain X-ray binary systems which can only be explained if one of the objects has an event horizon.
Regards
Steven