GENERAL ARTICLE

Compact Objects and Black Holes∗

2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

J S Bagla

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 has been divided, one half
awarded to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole
formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativ-
ity, and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea
Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the
centre of our galaxy. Here, we describe their work and put it
in historical context and discuss specific advances that have
been rewarded.
Jasjeet S. Bagla works at
IISER Mohali. He is
interested in diverse problems
1. Dark Stars in physics. His research is in
cosmology and galaxy
The Nobel Prize this year has been awarded for research that formation.

demonstrated that black holes can form in realistic astrophysical

situations and observational evidence for a supermassive compact
object at the centre of our Galaxy. Black holes are exotic objects.
These have been in the popular imagination, and these have also Keywords
been used in movies. Black hole, general relativity, sin-
gularity, galactic centre, optics.
Black holes are thought of as objects from which nothing can es-
cape. The first speculation about such objects then named as dark
stars was the result of combining increasing confidence in Newto-
nian gravity and the speed of light as determined by Ole Römer1 . 1 Römer used the eclipses of

The speed of light is many orders of magnitude larger than the Jupiter’s satellites to measure
the speed of light. He found
speeds one encounters in day to day life. In the 18th century,
that the estimated time between
John Michel and Pierre-Simon de Laplace speculated about the successive eclipses is shorter
existence of stars so massive that light emitted cannot escape to when the Earth is moving to-
infinity. A simple calculation shows that the mass and the radius wards Jupiter and longer when
the Earth is moving away from
of such stars satisfies the relation based on the standard formula
Jupiter. He correctly inter-
preted this as a result of the fi-
nite speed of light.
∗
Vol.25, No.12, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1087-7

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 GENERAL ARTICLE

for escape velocity:

2GM
R≤ . (1)
c2
Here, G is the universal constant of gravitation, M is the mass
2 For masses that are familiar to of the star, c is the speed of light, and R is the radius2 . It is
us, the radius is very small. The to be noted though that in this scenario, any observer at a finite
radius corresponding to the Sun
distance from the star will still see the light from the star. Michel
is just under 3 km, whereas the
radius of the Sun is close to 7 × even speculated that the only way to discover the presence of such
105 km. a dark star may be to study the motion of luminous objects in
its vicinity. Laplace conjectured that a significant fraction of the
objects in the Universe might be dark stars.

2. General Relativity and Black Holes

Albert Einstein introduced the special theory of relativity in 1905,

and this elevated the speed of light from a very high speed to
the maximum speed possible in nature. The general theory of
relativity, introduced by Einstein in 1915 connected the curvature
of space-time with the notion of gravity while retaining aspects
of the special theory.
3 Schwarzschild presented this Karl Schwarzschild3 presented the first exact solution for the equa-
solution in 1916. Unfortu- tions of the general theory of relativity. He presented the solution
nately, he died shortly after this.
for the gravitational field of a point mass. Two aspects of this
solution are noteworthy: the gravitational field is singular with
a singularity at the position of the point mass, and, nothing can
escape from a sphere of radius given by (1). This sphere acts as a
4 The understanding that this one-way membrane and is referred to as the horizon4 . The radius
is a one-way membrane came of this sphere is referred to as the Schwarzschild radius. This was
much later with contributions
the first relativistic expression of what we now call a ‘black hole’.
from many, including Roger
Penrose. At the time, it was be- It was found that at large distances from the black hole, the grav-
lieved that there is a singular-
itational field and orbits deduced from Schwarzschild metric are
ity at the surface of this sphere
but it was eventually under- well-approximated by Newtonian gravity with small corrections.
stood that this problem is due to These corrections lead to the precession of bound orbits; preces-
the choice of coordinates in the sion of Mercury’s orbit was one of the first verifications of the
Schwarzschild metric.
general theory of relativity. Close to the black hole, the differ-

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ences between the two are very significant. There are no stable
bound orbits possible with an approach radius smaller than thrice
the Schwarzschild radius. Thus, any massive particle approach-
ing the black hole closer than this distance is expected to fall into
the black hole. Photons can orbit around such a black hole with an Photons can orbit around
orbital radius equal to 1.5 times the Schwarzschild radius. Pho- such a black hole with an
orbital radius equal to
tons coming in from larger radii and approaching closer than this
1.5 times the
distance falls into the black hole. At large distances, photons get Schwarzschild radius.
deflected from straight line by a small amount. This was observa- Photons coming in from
tionally verified for the first time by Dyson, Eddington and David- larger radii and
approaching closer than
son (1920) during the total solar eclipse on 29 May 1919. This
this distance falls into
observational verification was critical in making the general the- the black hole.
ory of relativity as the accepted theory of gravitation and bringing
international fame for Einstein.
Schwarzschild also presented a solution for space-time due to a
star. He showed that this is not singular, and there is no horizon
in such a case. He assumed the star to have a finite radius and
uniform density. In light of this, the point mass solution remained
a curiosity for some time.
Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarf stars5 raised the question of 5 S Chandrasekhar derived the

what happens if such a star goes beyond the mass limit. limit by combining special rel-
ativity with quantum statistics.
In a star like the Sun, the gravitational pull is finely balanced He showed that as a conse-
by a combination of gas pressure and radiation pressure. Thus quence of this combination, a
more massive white dwarf star
one requires a time-dependent study in order to address the ques-
has electrons that are relativis-
tion raised by Chandrasekhar’s computation of the mass limit for tic. The effective equation of
white dwarf stars. state leads to an instability if a
white dwarf star made predom-
inantly of helium has a mass
3. Collapse and Singularities more than 1.4 M⊙ , where M⊙ =
2 × 1030 kg is the mass of the
Bishveshwar Datt from Presidency College, Kolkata solved Ein- Sun.
stein’s equation for the time-dependent evolution of spherically
symmetric density distributions. His interest was in the cosmo-
logical expansion of inhomogeneous regions. He published his
solutions for the cosmological scenario and an expanding uni-
verse in 1938. He passed away in the same year during a surgery.
His paper from 1938 was republished in 1997 as a golden oldie

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 GENERAL ARTICLE

in the journal General Relativity and Gravitation. The same so-

lution was discovered independently by Oppenheimer and Sny-
der in 1939 and applied to a collapsing star. They showed that
in the absence of pressure, the star collapses and continues to
collapse. However, the collapse slows down from the perspec-
tive of a distant observer as the radius of the star approaches the
Schwarzschild radius.

A very important link in A very important link in the development of ideas about time-
the development of ideas dependent space-times was provided by Professor Amal Kumar
about time-dependent
Raychaudhuri. Working at Ashutosh College in Kolkata, he de-
space-times was
provided by Professor veloped a general equation for describing local evolution of such
Amal Kumar space-times without imposing any restrictions on symmetry or
Raychaudhuri. He constraining the type of matter that drives the evolution of space-
developed a general time. The equation describes how matter moves in such a space-
equation for describing
local evolution of time and how the space-time evolves with it. The equation, named
space-times without the Raychaudhuri equation in his honour, describes space-time
imposing any restrictions in terms of an overall expansion or contraction, rotation, and
on symmetry or shear [1]. However, the assumption of zero pressure raised doubts
constraining the type of
matter that drives the about the relevance of the solution for real stars.
evolution of space-time. We have discussed above that the Schwarzschild solution has a
singularity at the centre, and it has a horizon enclosing the singu-
larity. The development of this understanding came through the
work of Roger Penrose. If we consider the view of a distant ob-
server, gravitational time dilation implies that it takes an infinite
time for any object to fall into the horizon. Penrose introduced a
set of coordinates that demonstrate that in the frame of a particle
falling into the black hole, fall towards the singularity is inevitable
once it crosses the horizon, and it happens in finite time. More
interestingly, if this particle is emitting light, then all light falls
into the black hole once the particle crosses the horizon. Penrose
attributed the idea to Eddington and Finkelstein, and these coor-
dinates are known as Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates. Thus
Penrose was able to demonstrate that in a Schwarzschild black
hole, infalling objects reach the singularity at the centre in a finite
time, and this fall is inevitable if the infalling object crosses the
horizon. Penrose terms such surfaces that act as one way mem-

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Figure 1. Sir Roger

Penrose is the Emeritus
Rouse Ball Professor
of Mathematics at the
University of Oxford, an
Emeritus Fellow of Wadham
College, Oxford, and an
Honorary Fellow of St
John’s College, Cambridge,
and University College
London (UCL). (Photo by
Cirone-Musi, Festival della
Scienza, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid=
branes as a trapped surface. 19318743)
Penrose proceeded further and was able to prove that if a trapped
surface forms during the collapse of a star, then the formation of a
singularity at the centre is inevitable. This is the singularity theo-
rem that he proved. The proof required application of topological
methods in general relativity. This theorem implies that a star can
collapse and form a black hole; this astrophysical phenomenon
can lead to the formation of a black hole. Given that the known
black hole solutions are stationary, this is a significant step that
connects these idealized solutions with the complex reality.
This proof was timely as there were doubts about whether black Penrose was able to
holes can form in astrophysical processes or not. Measurement of prove that if a trapped
the redshift of quasars like 3C273 already implied that the total surface forms during the
collapse of a star, then
emission from these was very large and accretion around black the formation of a
holes appeared to be the only feasible explanation at the time. singularity at the centre
is inevitable. This
The proof also brings out an internal limitation of the general the- theorem implies that a
ory of relativity. Existence of singularities implies that the theory star can collapse and
breaks down at some points, and hence the theory has limitations. form a black hole.
It is expected that as and when the quantum theory of gravity
is found, the singularities will be replaced by something more
tractable.

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Roy Kerr provided the solution for a rotating black hole in 1963.
This is the black hole solution that is clearly relevant in astro-
physics as all the stars have a non-zero angular momentum, and
we expect black holes that form due to collapse to have some
angular momentum as well.
Roger Penrose proposed a process that can lead to the extraction
of energy from a rotating black hole. This is also a very signifi-
cant contribution. The singularity theorems were generalized by
Hawking and Penrose to prove that the Universe had a singularity
in the past.
However, what remains unproven is the so-called cosmic censor-
ship conjecture. The conjecture states that a space-time singular-
ity is always surrounded by a horizon, and hence cannot be seen
by a distant observer.

4. Super Massive Black Holes

Evidence has grown over the last five decades for the presence
of supermassive black holes at the centre of each galaxy. This
evidence has come from a variety of observations of velocities in
the vicinity of the black hole. These observations are of stars or
hot gas orbiting the black hole. It is interesting that we had much
better evidence for the existence of supermassive compact objects
in other galaxies well before such observations were attempted in
our own galaxy. A major obstacle in such observations in galaxies
is scattering and absorption by the intervening gas and dust, this
One half of the Nobel effect is given the name ‘extinction’ in astronomy. One half of
Prize for Physics this the Nobel Prize for Physics this year has been given to Reinhard
year has been given to
Genzel and Andrea Mia Ghez for their work that has established
Reinhard Genzel and
Andrea Mia Ghez for the presence of a supermassive compact object at the centre of the
their work that has Milky Way galaxy.
established the presence
of a supermassive The program to observe the central region of the Galaxy was
compact object at the started by Reinhard Genzel nearly three decades ago. Andrea
centre of the Milky Way Ghez started her own program a few years later. Reinhard identi-
galaxy.
fied a near-infrared band (K band, λ ∼ 2.2 µm) as a suitable band
for observations of the galactic centre. Extinction reduces the flux

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Figure 2. Reinhard
Genzel is a German as-
trophysicist, Co-director of
the Max Planck Institute
for Extraterrestrial Physics,
a Professor at LMU, and
an Emeritus Professor at
the University of California,
Berkeley. (Photo by MPE:
Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid=
18151111)

by nearly three orders of magnitudes in the K band; the situation

is much worse in the optical. The first challenge that came up was Variations of density and
the effect of the atmosphere. Variations of density and tempera- temperature in the
atmosphere leads to
ture in the atmosphere leads to distortion of the incoming wave
distortion of the
front; astronomers refer to this effect as ‘seeing’. We are familiar incoming wave front;
with this effect in terms of twinkling of stars; the image of the astronomers refer to this
star shifts around by a small amount and its intensity fluctuates. effect as ‘seeing’. We are
In images of stars taken over a long period, we get the sum of all familiar with this effect
in terms of twinkling of
the shifted positions, and hence the image of each star becomes stars; the image of the
a bit blurry. The number of stars in the direction of the galactic star shifts around by a
centre is very large and, therefore, images of stars start to over- small amount and its
lap. The first technique used to get images without this problem intensity fluctuates.
was to take many short images, align them and obtain a deep im-
age of the region without blurring of images. These early studies
allowed astronomers to get first estimates of the speeds of stars
in the central region and, therefore, constrain the mass contained
near the centre.
Shift to larger telescopes permitted astronomers to take deeper
images and observe fainter stars. The most significant develop-

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Figure 3. Andrea Mia

Ghez is an American
astronomer and Profes-
sor in the Department of
Physics and Astronomy
at the University of Cali-
fornia, Los Angeles. Her
research focuses on the
centre of the Milky Way
galaxy. (Photo by John D:
https://www.nsf.gov/discover
ies/disc images.jsp?cntn id=
133541&org=NSF,
ment was the use of adaptive optics.
Public Domain, https://
commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid= 4.1 Active and Adaptive Optics
94809121)
Adaptive optics make use of the technology developed for active
optics to adjust the shape of the mirror for distortion of the incom-
ing wavefront by the atmosphere. This requires a measurement
of the incoming wavefront and a rapid adjustment of the shape of
the mirror. Several approaches have been developed for this. If
we have a bright point source in the field, then we can sense the
wavefront by an array of lenses/mirrors: if the wavefront did not
have any distortions, then all images will form at the same rela-
tive location, whereas there will be small shifts if the wavefront
cannot be described as a plane wave. The amount of shift can be
used to sense the level of distortion, and an appropriate correction
can be applied.

Active optics technology Active optics was an attempt to work with thin mirrors of large
has allowed the diameter where the shape is adjusted with the help of a computer
construction of model that takes the orientation and temperature into account. It
telescopes with large
diameters in the last is this technology that has allowed the construction of telescopes
three decades and the with large diameters in the last three decades and the same tech-
same technology will be nology will be used for making even larger telescopes with com-
used for making even posite mirrors, e.g., the thirty-meter telescope (TMT) that India is
larger telescopes with
composite mirrors. also involved with.
Bright stars are not present in all directions, and astronomers use

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laser guide stars to overcome this problem. Adaptive optics per-

mits astronomers to obtain diffraction-limited images and hence
observe much fainter sources while improving localization on the
sky.

4.2 Zooming In

Observations with large telescopes—Keck telescopes in Hawaii

and the Very Large Telescopes (VLT) in Chile—have allowed as-
tronomers to observe stars and track them in their orbits. The
orbital parameters of these stars constrain the mass contained in-
side the orbit. A key step was the discovery of a few stars with
time periods short enough for them to be tracked for more than
one complete orbit. This enables reliable determination of orbital
parameters for these stars. The orbital parameters (semi-major
axis and time period) can be used to deduce the enclosed mass.
A very important inference from these studies has been that the
mass contained within the orbit reaches a constant value, indicat-
ing that the contribution in the innermost regions is from a sin-
gle source, and individual stars do not contribute any significant
mass. Indeed, the contribution of stars to the total mass up to a
radius that is twenty thousand times the orbit of the Earth around
the Sun is insignificant, i.e., the mass of the compact object domi-
nates in this region. This, in essence, is the observational evidence
of the presence of an object with a mass of about 4 × 106 times
the mass of the Sun in a region that is at most twenty times larger
than the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. This is only about 200
times larger than the Schwarzschild radius [2]. The mass remains Astronomers are now
almost constant to a scale that is a thousand times larger than this. starting to use
interferometry for
observations of the
4.3 Recent Developments galactic centre. This will
improve the resolving
Astronomers are now starting to use interferometry for observa- power by an order of
magnitude and improve
tions of the galactic centre. This will improve the resolving power the determination of
by an order of magnitude and improve the determination of orbital orbital parameters.
parameters. This will also permit the discovery of fainter objects.
Improved sensitivity is expected to permit testing general theory

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of relativity via observations of stars in orbits around the compact

object.

5. Summary

The 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics has recognized the theoretical
work that proved that black holes can form through astrophysical
processes. The work by Roger Penrose is built on foundations
laid by several scientists, most importantly Amal Kumar Ray-
chaudhuri. The Raychaudhuri equation was critical to the proof
of the singularity theorem given by Roger Penrose.
Recognition of the work by Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Mia
Ghez in establishing the presence of a supermassive compact ob-
ject at the centre of the Galaxy stops short of calling it a black
hole. Observations using other means have established a stronger
constraint on supermassive compact objects in other galaxies. Per-
haps the observational discovery of black holes will be recognized
later in another Nobel.
Roy Kerr, who found the solution for a black hole with angu-
lar momentum has also contributed significantly to this journey.
Without the Kerr solution, there would have been many concerns
about realistic models of black holes.
Readers can learn more details at the Nobel Foundation website6
6 https://www.nobelprize.org/ and other reviews [3].
uploads/2020/10/advanced-
physicsprize2020.pdf Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Rajaram Nityananda for useful

comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Address for Correspondence
J S Bagla Suggested Reading
Knowledge city
Sector 81, SAS Nagar [1] Sayan Kar, An introduction to the Raychaudhuri equations,Resonance, Vol.13,
Manauli PO 140 306, India. No.4, pp.319–333, 2008.
Email: [2] F Peißker, A Eckart and M Parsa, S62 on a 9.9 yr Orbit around SgrA*, ApJ,
[email protected] Vol.889, No.1, 2020.
[3] J Samuel, 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics: Black holes and the Milky Way’s dark-
est secret, Current Science, 119, No.10, pp.1598–1602, 2020.

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