Schwarzschild black hole singularity formation

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Authors: Jorge Ovalle, Roberto Casadio, Alexander Yu. Kamenshchik
Cited by: 5
References: 47

Abstract

We examine whether the Schwarzschild black hole can emerge as the continuous end state of gravitational collapse from a nonsingular configuration. Employing a time-dependent extension of the regular Schwarzschild metric, we track the evolution of the geometry during collapse and find that the process cannot remain continuous. The metric function develops a discontinuity at the origin, marking a breakdown of spacetime smoothness, an effect identified as “Minkowski breaking.” Before the Schwarzschild point source can form at r =0, curvature singularities appear, and the Cauchy horizon disappears. These results strongly suggest that spacetime may not evolve smoothly toward the Schwarzschild geometry. Instead, the formation of a Schwarzschild black hole appears to entail a discrete change in the structure of spacetime, pointing to the need for a noncontinuous, possibly quantized, framework to describe the emergence or regularization of gravitational singularities.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Volume
113
Issue
6
Publication date
6 March 2026
Language
EN