Guy falling into black hole sees end of universe

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SUMMARY

The discussion clarifies that a person falling into a black hole does not witness the end of the universe. Instead, they experience a rapid descent through the event horizon, ultimately reaching the singularity where they meet their demise. Light from the outside universe can only reach the infaller if it arrives before they cross the event horizon, which is not guaranteed. The analogy comparing the distant observer to an accelerating observer in flat spacetime and the infaller to an inertial observer is emphasized, highlighting the limitations of perception near a black hole.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of black hole physics and event horizons
  • Familiarity with general relativity concepts
  • Knowledge of light propagation in curved spacetime
  • Basic grasp of inertial and non-inertial reference frames
NEXT STEPS
  • Read "The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time" by Stephen Hawking and George Ellis
  • Explore the implications of the Penrose diagram for black holes
  • Investigate the concept of time dilation near black holes
  • Study the paper referenced in the discussion: arXiv:0804.3619
USEFUL FOR

Astronomers, physicists, and students of theoretical physics seeking to understand the nature of black holes and the behavior of objects near them.

black hole 123
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I still don't understand this fully. Can someone please explain? I saw a video where an analogy was made, the distant observer is like an accelerating observer in flat spacetime and guy falling in is like an inertial observer, is it just like the coordinates of the distant observer from the black hole only covers up to the horizon (but not including the horizon itself)?

What EXACTLY does the guy falling in see?
 
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black hole 123 said:
What EXACTLY does the guy falling in see?

He doesn't see the end of the universe. Light from outside coming in has to catch him before he hits the singularity; only light emitted a fairly short time after he falls in can do that.
 
black hole 123 said:
I still don't understand this fully. Can someone please explain? I saw a video where an analogy was made, the distant observer is like an accelerating observer in flat spacetime and guy falling in is like an inertial observer, is it just like the coordinates of the distant observer from the black hole only covers up to the horizon (but not including the horizon itself)?

Either the video is wrong or you've misunderstood it.

The infaller does not get to see the end of the universe or anything of that sort. He falls through the event horizon without anything remarkable happening and dies horribly but quickly when he reaches the central singularity. Light from events happening in the outside universe also moves through the horizon to the central singularity; if that light doesn't reach the infaller before he dies, he doesn't see those events.

You might want to give this paper a try: http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.3619
 

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