Collection
Singularity theorems, causality, and all that (SCRI21)
Roger Penrose shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 for "the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity", that is, for his 1965 gravitational collapse singularity theorem. Jointly with his 1963 study of the conformal boundary, Penrose's 1965 theorem marked the beginning of causality methods in mathematical relativity giving impulse to mathematical relativity itself.
In 2021, an online meeting honored Roger Penrose's accomplishments in mathematical relativity, particularly his use of global differential geometric methods in general relativity. Given the extent of Penrose's contributions, the idea was to focus on themes more closely related to the Nobel Prize motivation and to Penrose's mathematical methods:
1) Causality theory and singularity theorems (including abstract frameworks, low differentiability studies, weakened energy conditions), 2) Causal/conformal boundaries, 3) Cosmic censorship (mostly from a differential geometric viewpoint).
This article collection is based on contributions from this meeting, which gathered researchers who use Penrose's differential geometric methods or who have an interest in them and some perspectives to share. We wish that it summarizes the present status of mathematical relativity research in the above areas.
Editors
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Ettore Minguzzi
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica “U. Dini” Università degli Studi di Firenze Via S. Marta 3 50139 Firenze Italy
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Piotr T. Chruściel
University of Vienna Faculty of Physics and Research platform TURIS Boltzmanngasse 5 1090 Vienna Austria
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Gregory J. Galloway
Department of Mathematics University of Miami Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA
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Michael Kunzinger
Faculty of Mathematics University of Vienna Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 1090 Vienna Austria
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Roland Steinbauer
Faculty of Mathematics University of Vienna Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 1090 Vienna Austria
