Can a black hole shrink another black hole's event horizon?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on whether a black hole's event horizon can shrink in the presence of another black hole. Participants clarify that while the event horizons may appear distorted due to gravitational effects, they do not actually decrease in size. The shape and size of event horizons can change as black holes approach each other, but this does not imply a reduction in their overall size. The visual representation in the provided image may mislead observers into thinking the event horizons are shrinking. Accurate measurements are necessary to determine any changes in size rather than relying on visual interpretation alone.
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http://cdn4.sci-news.com/images/2016/02/image_3628-Gravitational-Waves.jpg
In the above image, i can see that the event horizon of each black hole has decreased in size. Does that mean that the event horizon can shrink in the presence of another black hole?
 
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How are you concluding that they have decreased in size from a single image?
 
Borg said:
How are you concluding that they have decreased in size from a single image?
Its a screenshot of this video:
 
The event horizons are not perfectly spherical due to gravitational effects from each other but they're not decreasing in size.
 
Borg said:
The event horizons are not perfectly spherical due to gravitational effects from each other but they're not decreasing in size.
But as the two black holes come closer, don't their event horizons change shape and size, and perhaps shrink at some radial positions?
And if coming closer increases event horizon size(for all radial positions), wouldn't going away decrease the event horizon size?
 
The event horizons do not get smaller. Their images, distorted by the heavily curved spacetime, can appear smaller. I'm not even sure if that happens here. Would probably need some measurement of pixel diameters.
 

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