Is there a true singularity in nature?

[the softrat]

I am well aware that a number of physical models contain or predict
singularities. My question is: Is there any experimental evidence that
any singularity actually exists or are they all artifacts of the
models?

Lest someone jump right in with the singularity at the center of a
black hole, let me say that, although the various solutions of
Einstein's Equation have provided much useful guidance in
understanding the structure of the universe, as far as I know, the
center of a star or BH is outside of the range (or is it domain) of
applicability of the various solutions because they presume a non-zero
stress-energy tensor. In point of fact, we do not know what is in
there, we just know about the effects at and/or outside of the event
horizon.

It is my belief that there are no singularities in nature. I am
looking for evidence that I am wrong.

Note that renormalization in QED 'takes care of' the singularities,
i.e. they are not really there, just in an incomplete model. I suspect
that a comprehensive theory of quantum gravity may exhibit similar
behavior. Meanwhile, our ingenuity in constructing mathematical models
is less ingenious than Reality itself.

For your kind consideration,

George D. Freeman IV, aka

the softrat
Sometimes I get so tired of the taste of my own toes.
mailto:softrat@pobox.com
--
"Some students drink at the fountain of knowledge, some students
just gargle!" -- Navjot Singh Siddu

 

[Andy Resnick]

I am well aware that a number of physical models contain or predict
singularities. My question is: Is there any experimental evidence that
any singularity actually exists or are they all artifacts of the
models?

There are true singularities. Wave dislocations are zeroes with indeterminate phase:

http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/berry_mv/the_papers/Berry034.pdf

And caustics, which are infinite in intensity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caustic_(optics)

Those are the only two I know of.