Any real theories out there on what the exact nature of a black hole really is?

Question

Any real theories out there on what the exact nature of a black hole really is?

Answer 1

Yes, and they are all backed up by extensive mathematics.  Those are the 'real' ones.  The rest are just talk.  Suggest you get a few copies of Physical Review.  Or maybe search Google Scholar.  Authors such as  Penrose, Hawking, Chandrasekar might be useful search terms.

Answer 2

Yes -- The theory (General Relatitivity) has been around for close to a hundred years now, since long before black holes were actually discovered.  The theory predicted that massive stars could collapse and cause a massive warping of local spacetime.  Since then (in the last decade or two) we've discovered things in space that seem to fit that picture.  Black holes have never been "unexplained"--they were explained long before we actually found one.

Answer 3

Black holes are the result of a "real" theory called the General Theory of Relativity authored by Albert Einstein.  This theory was published in 1916.  It is the state-of-the art description of gravity and describes gravity as a property of the geometry of space and time.  General relativity's predictions have been confirmed in all observations and experiments to date.

The idea of an object with gravity strong enough to prevent light from escaping was proposed in 1783 (long before the General Theory of Relativity) by the Reverend John Michel, an amateur British astronomer. In 1795, Pierre-Simon Laplace, a French physicist independently came to the same conclusion.

The theory was amplified in 1974 by Stephen Hawking to propose that energy could leave a Black Hole.  However, the existence of Hawking radiation has never been observed, nor are there currently viable experimental tests that would allow it to be observed. Hence there is still some theoretical dispute over whether Hawking radiation actually exists.

Answer 4

Huh?? General Relativity predicts black holes but I don't think even Einstein believed they'd be found... Regardless however, black holes are simple...

In space, all bodies of mass have a gravitational pull (see Newton and Einstein’s general relativity for more details)... Because of this, all bodies have an escape velocity... Here on Earth it is around 17,000 mph for low orbit and around 25,000 mph for high orbit/open space...

More massive object like the sun or Jupiter would have much higher escape velocities for no reason other than they have more mass and therefore more pull...

Once a body's mass reaches enough to make the escape velocity 186,000 mps (yes miles per second) the body will become a black hole. Therein, not even light, which travels at that speed, will be fast enough to escape... Being that nothing is faster than light, nothing (having mass) can ever escape...

Some say they evaporate energy and if that is true then I would guess matter is converted into energy (E=Mc2) at the singularity and that is how their lifecycle reciprocates... That's my "theory" anyway (or at least 2 cents)...