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Penrose-Hawking Singularity Theorems

Mathematical Physics

The Penrose-Hawking Singularity Theorems are a set of results in general relativity addressing the conditions under which the gravitational collapse of matter must produce a spacetime singularity. Roger Penrose's version, a result in semi-Riemannian geometry, predicts a singularity forming inside a collapsing black hole, while Stephen Hawking's version, built on Penrose's methods, predicts a singularity in the past of an expanding universe consistent with the Big Bang. Penrose shared half of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of general relativity, a result grounded in this theorem.

Facts
Statement
A set of results in general relativity that attempt to answer the question of when gravitation produces singularities. 1
Proof Year
1965 2
Classification
Statement Form
Existence Theorem 1
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Source Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems (Wikipedia)

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Source Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems (Wikipedia)
  • Lead paragraph
    a set of results in general relativity that attempt to answer the question of when gravitation produces singularities.
  • In Group: Relativity and Gravitation, Lead section
    Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking) are a set of results in general relativity that attempt to answer the question of when gravitation
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2. MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews: Roger Penrose - MacTutor History of Mathematics
MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St AndrewsBiography
Quote, Biography
In 1965 , using topological methods, Penrose proved an important theorem which, under conditions which he called the existence of a trapped surface, proved that a singularity must occur in a gravitational collapse
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