A critical appraisal of the singularity theorems

2021/08/16 by José M. M. Senovilla · 17 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Calculus (dental) #Computer science #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Epistemology #Mathematical analysis #Mathematical economics #Mathematics #Philosophy #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Relation (database) #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Singularity #Singularity theory #Theme (computing) #Theoretical physics #gr-qc #hep-th #math-ph #math.MP

paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rsta.2021.0174

published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 380(2222), 20210174 (Royal Society) · 15 pages, 4 figures. Invited review for the Theme issue "The future of mathematical cosmology" , submitted to Phil. Trans. A

arxiv created 2021/08/16 · openalex publication_date 2022/03/14 · arxiv updated 2022/03/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The 2020 Nobel prize in Physics has revived the interest in the singularity theorems and, in particular, in the Penrose theorem published in 1965. In this short paper I briefly review the main ideas behind the theorems and then proceed to an evaluation of their hypotheses and implications. I will try to dispel some common misconceptions about the theorems and their conclusions, as well as to convey some of their rarely mentioned consequences. In particular, a discussion of spacetime extensions in relation to the theorems is provided. The nature of the singularity inside black holes is also analyzed.

Citations

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Cited by

• Penrose's singularity theorem and the Kerr space-time
• Radiative properties of a nonsingular black hole: Hawking radiation and gray-body factor