Black Holes Through Different Windows | Public Lecture

Made entirely of curved spacetime, black holes are among the most enigmatic objects in the Universe. Although early theoretical ideas on objects like black holes go back to the eighteenth century, the first rigorous mathematical formulation of a black hole was made by Karl Schwarzschild in 1915, based on Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. A variety of astronomical observations made in the last century confirmed that black holes are not just theoretical constructs — the Universe is littered with them. Aided by a host of new technologies, astronomical observations have now started probing the detailed nature of black holes. This talk provides a summary of this exciting journey. This lecture was organised as part of Science Gallery Bengaluru's 7th exhibition-season Sci560, supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.