Astronomy Club invites you to an Extra Credit Presentation:

What's inside a black hole -- and how do we know?

A brief overview:

Black holes are some of the most puzzling objects in the universe, challenging both our understanding of gravity and basic principles of physics. Predicted long ago in 1916 as solutions of the equations of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, it is only recently that dark, very compact objects, assumed to be black holes, are being routinely detected by the gravitational waves emitted when they collide. I'll describe what we know and what we don't know about black holes and how gravitational wave observations may be help settle the fundamental problem of reconciling gravity with the other forces of nature.

Bio:

Emil Mottola is a physicist who received his Ph. D. from Columbia University in 1979, had post-doctoral positions first at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton NJ (1979-1982), and then at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB in Santa Barbara CA (1982-1986) before joining the Theoretical Division of Los Alamos National  Laboratory in 1986. His background is in Elementary Particles, High Energy Physics, & Quantum Theory and General Relativity, Black Holes & Cosmology, particularly on the intersection of these areas. With Pawel Mazur, Emil proposed and developed the theory of Gravitational Condensate Stars ('gravastars') as an alternative  to black holes. Emil is currently an Adjunct Prof. at UNM and an Affiliate of the NM Consortium.