Black holes

A team of mathematicians based in Vienna is developing tools to extend the scope of general relativity.

Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics.

The giant holes in galaxies’ centers shouldn’t be able to merge, yet merge they do. Scientists suggest that an unusual form of dark matter may be the solution.

Astronomers are reveling in the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries about the formative epoch of cosmic history.

A black hole formula worked out in the 1970s remains the most concrete clue physicists have about the threads of the space-time fabric.

These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.

This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality.

For decades, extremal black holes were considered mathematically impossible. A new proof reveals otherwise.

By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s first moments.