On the genericity of spacetime singularities

TL;DR

This paper investigates the generic nature of spacetime singularities in cosmology and gravitational collapse, demonstrating that visible singularities in spherical collapse are a common outcome with significant implications.

Contribution

It shows that visible singularities resulting from spherical collapse are generic, expanding understanding of the conditions under which singularities can be observed.

Findings

Visible singularities in spherical collapse are generic.

Singularity theorems predict both visible and covered singularities.

Implications for the visibility and nature of gravitational singularities.

Abstract

We consider here the genericity aspects of spacetime singularities that occur in cosmology and in gravitational collapse. The singularity theorems (that predict the occurrence of singularities in general relativity) allow the singularities of gravitational collapse to be either visible to external observers or covered by an event horizon of gravity. It is shown that the visible singularities that develop as final states of spherical collapse are generic. Some consequences of this fact are discussed.