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Light rays, singularities, and all that

Edward Witten

Edward Witten

  • School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA

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Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 045004 – Published 11 November, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.92.045004

Abstract

This review is an introduction to causal properties of general relativity. Topics include the Raychaudhuri equation, singularity theorems of Penrose and Hawking, the black hole area theorem, topological censorship, and the Gao-Wald theorem. The review is based on lectures at the 2018 summer program Prospects in Theoretical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, and also at the 2020 New Zealand Mathematical Research Institute summer school in Nelson, New Zealand.

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Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 045004– Published 11 November, 2020
  • Received 13 February 2020
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