Another paper casting doubt on the existence of Black Holes:
Fate of Gravitational Collapse in Semiclassical Gravity
Carlos Barcel, Stefano Liberati, Sebastiano Sonego, and Matt Visser (Dated: December 7, 2007) arXiv:0712.1130v1 [gr-qc]
While the outcome of gravitational collapse in classical general relativity is unquestionably a black hole, up to now no full and complete semiclassical description of black hole formation has been thoroughly investigated. Here we revisit the standard scenario for this process. By analyzing how semiclassical collapse proceeds we show that the very formation of a trapping horizon can be seriously questioned for a large set of, possibly realistic, scenarios. We emphasise that in principle the theoretical framework of semiclassical gravity certainly allows the formation of trapping horizons. What we are questioning here is the more subtle point of whether or not the standard black hole picture is appropriate for describing the end point of realistic collapse. Indeed if semiclassical physics were in some cases to prevent formation of the trapping horizon, then this suggests the possibility of new collapsed objects which can be much less problematic, making it unnecessary to confront the information paradox or the run-away end point problem.
I have been calling the above termed, "new collapsed objects", ECOs, extremely compact objects. ECOs form the seeds that drive the destruction of the universe at the end of the contraction phase. How long 'til then? Hard to say since the period of cosmological deflation can't be estimated until maximum expansion is reached. However, I can give a hand waving estimate of 10^18 years which is derived from the inverse Planck time. |
