The Trouble With Black Holes Part 1: A Brief History of Singularities
In this brief series of articles I aim outline the current state of knowledge in the theory of black holes. My particular focus is in the area of singularities and the ongoing efforts to remove them and the consequent breakdown in predictability they imply from models of physical black holes. This first article is written from a historical point of view and aims to set the scene for subsequent articles which will present the scope of the problem and the proposed solutions to it. Introduction Since the early work of Karl Schwarzschild on spherical solutions to Einstein's gravitational field equations, the notion of a black hole has presented a unique set of challenges to modern physics . They often form in the highly col lapsed cores of massive dying stars, where gravity is so extreme that e ven light, moving at its phenomenal speed, cannot escape to reach the eyes of some distant onlooker. This simple fact means that the conventional tools of science, observation and experiment