PHYSICS SEMINAR
THE OPPENHEIMER-SNYDER COLLAPSE
Hugues Beauchesne
Physics Department
Bishop's University
Friday, February 11, 2011
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Nicolls 315
It is fairly intuitive that a spherically symmetrical cloud of non-interacting particles (zero pressure) initially at rest will collapse gravitationally. This process is called the Oppenheimer-Snyder collapse and will be studied in this presentation. It will be shown that for a comoving observer the cloud contracts to one point in a finite time, but that an outside observer will never see the outer layer cross the event horizon. A brief review of the necessary elements of general relativity will be given, followed by a description of the process itself. This presentation should be accessible to all those with a basic education in physics.
