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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event horizon | 1/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T10:55:10.114290+00:00 | kb-cron |
In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary in spacetime beyond which no signal can ever reach a given observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s. In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive compact objects that even light cannot escape. At that time, the Newtonian theory of gravitation and the so-called corpuscular theory of light were dominant. In these theories, if the escape velocity of the gravitational influence of a massive object exceeds the speed of light, then light originating inside or from it can escape temporarily but will return. In 1958, David Finkelstein used general relativity to introduce a stricter definition of a local black hole event horizon as a boundary beyond which events of any kind cannot affect an outside observer, leading to information and firewall paradoxes, encouraging the re-examination of the concept of local event horizons and the notion of black holes. Several theories were subsequently developed, some with and some without event horizons. One of the leading developers of theories to describe black holes, Stephen Hawking, suggested that an apparent horizon should be used instead of an event horizon, saying, "Gravitational collapse produces apparent horizons but no event horizons." He eventually concluded that "the absence of event horizons means that there are no black holes – in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinity." Any object approaching the horizon from the observer's side appears to slow down, never quite crossing the horizon. Due to gravitational redshift, its image reddens over time as the object moves closer to the horizon. In an expanding universe, the speed of expansion reaches — and even exceeds — the speed of light, preventing signals from traveling to some regions. A cosmic event horizon is a real event horizon because it affects all kinds of signals, including gravitational waves, which travel at the speed of light. More specific horizon types include the related but distinct absolute and apparent horizons found around a black hole. Other distinct types include:
The Cauchy and Killing horizons. The photon spheres and ergospheres of the Kerr solution. Particle and cosmological horizons relevant to cosmology. Isolated and dynamical horizons, which are important in current black hole research.
== Cosmic event horizon ==
In cosmology, the event horizon of the observable universe is the largest comoving distance from which light emitted now can ever reach the observer in the future. This differs from the concept of the particle horizon, which represents the largest comoving distance from which light emitted in the past could reach the observer at a given time. For events that occur beyond that distance, light has not had enough time to reach our location, even if it was emitted at the time the universe began. The evolution of the particle horizon with time depends on the nature of the expansion of the universe. If the expansion has certain characteristics, parts of the universe will never be observable, no matter how long the observer waits for the light from those regions to arrive. The boundary beyond which events cannot ever be observed is an event horizon, and it represents the maximum extent of the particle horizon. The criterion for determining whether a particle horizon for the universe exists is as follows. Define a comoving distance dp as
d
p
=
∫
0
t
0
c
a
(
t
)
d
t
.
{\displaystyle d_{p}=\int _{0}^{t_{0}}{\frac {c}{a(t)}}\,dt.}
In this equation, a is the scale factor, c is the speed of light, and t0 is the age of the Universe. If dp → ∞ (i.e., points arbitrarily as far away as can be observed), then no event horizon exists. If dp ≠ ∞, a horizon is present. Examples of cosmological models without an event horizon are universes dominated by matter or by radiation. An example of a cosmological model with an event horizon is a universe dominated by the cosmological constant (a de Sitter universe). A calculation of the speeds of the cosmological event and particle horizons was given in a paper on the FLRW cosmological model, approximating the Universe as composed of non-interacting constituents, each one being a perfect fluid.
=== Apparent horizon of an accelerated particle ===
If a particle is moving at a constant velocity in a non-expanding universe free of gravitational fields, any event that occurs in that Universe will eventually be observable by the particle, because the forward light cones from these events intersect the particle's world line. On the other hand, if the particle is accelerating, in some situations light cones from some events never intersect the particle's world line. Under these conditions, an apparent horizon is present in the particle's (accelerating) reference frame, representing a boundary beyond which events are unobservable. For example, this occurs with a uniformly accelerated particle. A spacetime diagram of this situation is shown in the figure to the right. As the particle accelerates, it approaches, but never reaches, the speed of light with respect to its original reference frame. On the spacetime diagram, its path is a hyperbola, which asymptotically approaches a 45-degree line (the path of a light ray). An event whose light cone's edge is this asymptote or is farther away than this asymptote can never be observed by the accelerating particle. In the particle's reference frame, there is a boundary behind it from which no signals can escape (an apparent horizon). The distance to this boundary is given by
c
2
/
a
{\displaystyle c^{2}/a}
, where a is the constant proper acceleration of the particle. While approximations of this type of situation can occur in the real world (in particle accelerators, for example), a true event horizon is never present, as this requires the particle to be accelerated indefinitely (requiring arbitrarily large amounts of energy and an arbitrarily large apparatus).