The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

Journeys into one of the most fascinating intellectual adventures of recent decades
Describes exciting possibilities related to black holes and naked singularities
Discusses observational implications and signatures of space-time singularities
Excellent supplement to existing physics or cosmology courses

The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

Description

This book journeys into one of the most fascinating intellectual adventures of recent decades - understanding and exploring the final fate of massive collapsing stars in the universe. The issue is of great interest in fundamental physics and cosmology today, from both the perspective of gravitation theory and of modern astrophysical observations. This is a revolution in the making and may be intimately connected to our search for a unified understanding of the basic forces of nature, namely gravity that governs the cosmological universe, and the microscopic forces that include quantum phenomena.

According to the general theory of relativity, a massive star that collapses catastrophically under its own gravity when it runs out of its internal nuclear fuel must give rise to a space-time singularity. Such singularities are regions in the universe where all physical quantities take their extreme values and become arbitrarily large. The singularities may be covered within a black hole, or visible to faraway observers in the universe. Thus, the final fate of a collapsing massive star is either a black hole or a visible naked singularity. We discuss here recent results and developments on the gravitational collapse of massive stars and possible observational implications when naked singularities happen in the universe. Large collapsing massive stars and the resulting space-time singularities may even provide a laboratory in the cosmos where one could test the unification possibilities of basic forces of nature.

The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

Author Information

Pankaj S. Joshi, Senior Professor, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

Dr Pankaj S. Joshi works as a Senior Professor with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. His research is in the fields of gravitation and cosmology and he has published more than 150 research papers as well as monographs and books on the subject. He has held visiting faculty positions in several countries doing research and lecturing on these topics and has won several awards as well as Fellowships to scientific academies.
Professor Joshi has made fundamental contributions in black hole physics and gravitation theory. His extensive analysis of general relativistic gravitational collapse has been widely recognized as providing significant insights into the final fate of massive collapsing stars in the universe, formation of space-time singularities, and cosmic censorship. He has also contributed a large number of books and articles towards science outreach and has given many public lectures.

The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

Reviews and Awards

"Being written at the level of popular literature on physics and astronomy, this book leads the reader to the current frontier of research in gravitation theory without hiding the yet-unsolved problems and differences of opinion among specialists. In this respect it is unique, and will be extremely valuable reading." --Andrzej Krasinski, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center

"Pankaj Joshi has written a wonderful book, full of challenges for the reader and also for all physicists! Only in 1998 did dark energy become established, subverting common thought. Joshi takes it all in and he teaches us to 'listen to nature' to figure out how to progress and make the leap to quantum gravity, the final unification of the fundamental forces in nature." --Peter L. Biermann, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Germany

"In this lucid overview, theoretical astrophysicist Pankaj Joshi corrals the research on collapsing massive stars and space-time singularities, including the idea that the event horizon might be a firewall of fierce radiation. Joshi sees work in these areas as a lab for testing the pressing problems in fundamental physics and beyond." --Nature

"Joshi's book will inspire graduate students... Recommended." --Choice

"Although meant for a popular audience, The Story of Collapsing Stars presents the open research questions so clearly that it can also serve as a valuable starting point for scientists and students considering research in the area of gravitational collapse." --Physics Today

"Most of what is written in this book is very high level as can be expected from the title. Nevertheless, initiated readers would find it a good and an enjoyable read. ... The engaging narrative makes the read more like a story, especially since there are no equations at all other than the very few embedded in the text that the readers should already know or at least be familiar with." --Contemporary Physics

The Story of Collapsing Stars

Black Holes, Naked Singularities, and the Cosmic Play of Quantum Gravity

Pankaj S. Joshi

From Our Blog

What black hole collisions reveal about the universe

The remarkable detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO collaboration recently has drawn much attention to the fundamental and intriguing workings of gravity in our universe. Finding these gravitational waves, inferred to be produced by merger of two stellar mass black holes, has been like listening to the very distant sound of the universe.

Posted on March 13, 2016

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Of black holes, naked singularities, and quantum gravity

Modern science has introduced us to many strange ideas on the universe, but one of the strangest is the ultimate fate of massive stars in the Universe that reached the end of their life cycles. Having exhausted the fuel that sustained it for millions of years of shining life in the skies, the star is no longer able to hold itself up under its own weight, and it then shrinks and collapses catastrophically unders its own gravity. Modest stars like the Sun also collapse at the end of their life, but they stabilize at a smaller size.

Posted on January 19, 2015

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