Events

Black Holes as Massive Spacetime

Abstract:That an astronomical black hole has mass is uncontroversial. But in the context of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equations —which is taken to describe a black hole spacetime— the interpretation of the parameter M as a mass parameter is not straightforward. This talk will begin by briefly introducing five distinct conceptual approaches to interpreting the mass of a Schwarzschild spacetime, before focusing on a global, general relativistic interpretation. My aims here are twofold. First, I will discuss how a particular definition of global mass, introduced by Arnowitt, Deser and Misner in the late 1950s, can be justified as a notion of mass in the context of the Schwarzschild metric, despite its global character and apparent conflict with the traditional view of mass as a local property. Second, I will argue that the global interpretation, when considered alongside the other interpretations, points to a blurring of the conceptual distinction between spacetime and matter. In particular, I will explore the extent to which the ADM mass functions as a matter criterion for spacetime, and what implications this has for the ontological relationship between matter and spacetime in a Schwarzschild spacetime.

Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

Monday, April 28, 2025 9:30 AM