Can Photons Create Black Holes?

[trini]

Question, is it meanigful to define a schwarzchild radius to a photon, or does this concept apply only to particles with rest mass?

 

[mathman]

I suspect that at this level you have a conflict between quantum theory and gen. rel. so the question can't be answered.

 

[astrokreng]

I would say that defining a Schwarzschild radius for a photon may not be meaningful as the concept of a Schwarzschild radius is based on the mass of an object. Photons, being massless particles, do not have a rest mass, therefore the concept of a Schwarzschild radius may not apply to them. However, it is possible to calculate the gravitational influence of a photon by considering its energy and momentum. In this case, the concept of a photon generated black hole may be more accurately described as an event horizon rather than a Schwarzschild radius. This event horizon would represent the boundary beyond which the gravitational pull of the photon becomes too strong for even light to escape. Therefore, while the concept of a Schwarzschild radius may not be applicable to photons, the idea of an event horizon can still be used to describe the behavior of a photon generated black hole.