Janna Levin

Yeah, I think it's important to separate the idea that there are these astrophysical states that become black holes from being synonymous with black holes. Because black holes are kind of this larger... and they might've been made primordially when the Big Bang happened. There's something flawless about black holes that makes them fundamental, unlike anything else.

Yeah, I think it's important to separate the idea that there are these astrophysical states that become black holes from being synonymous with black holes. Because black holes are kind of this larger... and they might've been made primordially when the Big Bang happened. There's something flawless about black holes that makes them fundamental, unlike anything else.

Yeah, I think it's important to separate the idea that there are these astrophysical states that become black holes from being synonymous with black holes. Because black holes are kind of this larger... and they might've been made primordially when the Big Bang happened. There's something flawless about black holes that makes them fundamental, unlike anything else.

So they're flawless in the sense that you can completely understand a black hole by looking at just its charge, electric charge, its mass, and its spin. And every black hole with that charge, mass, and spin is identical to every other black hole. You can't be like, oh, that one's mine, I recognize it. It has this little feature, and that's how I know it's mine. They're featureless.

So they're flawless in the sense that you can completely understand a black hole by looking at just its charge, electric charge, its mass, and its spin. And every black hole with that charge, mass, and spin is identical to every other black hole. You can't be like, oh, that one's mine, I recognize it. It has this little feature, and that's how I know it's mine. They're featureless.

So they're flawless in the sense that you can completely understand a black hole by looking at just its charge, electric charge, its mass, and its spin. And every black hole with that charge, mass, and spin is identical to every other black hole. You can't be like, oh, that one's mine, I recognize it. It has this little feature, and that's how I know it's mine. They're featureless.

You try to put Mount Everest on a black hole and it will shake it off in these gravitational waves. It will radiate away this imperfection until it settles down to be a perfect black hole again. So there's something about them that is unlike, and another reason why I don't like to call them objects in a traditional sense, unlike anything else in the universe that's macroscopic.

You try to put Mount Everest on a black hole and it will shake it off in these gravitational waves. It will radiate away this imperfection until it settles down to be a perfect black hole again. So there's something about them that is unlike, and another reason why I don't like to call them objects in a traditional sense, unlike anything else in the universe that's macroscopic.

You try to put Mount Everest on a black hole and it will shake it off in these gravitational waves. It will radiate away this imperfection until it settles down to be a perfect black hole again. So there's something about them that is unlike, and another reason why I don't like to call them objects in a traditional sense, unlike anything else in the universe that's macroscopic.

It's kind of a little bit more like a fundamental particle. So an electron is described by a certain short list of properties, charge, mass, spin, maybe some other quantum numbers. That's what it means to to be an electron. There's no electron that's a little bit different. You can't recognize your electron. They're all identical in that sense.

It's kind of a little bit more like a fundamental particle. So an electron is described by a certain short list of properties, charge, mass, spin, maybe some other quantum numbers. That's what it means to to be an electron. There's no electron that's a little bit different. You can't recognize your electron. They're all identical in that sense.

It's kind of a little bit more like a fundamental particle. So an electron is described by a certain short list of properties, charge, mass, spin, maybe some other quantum numbers. That's what it means to to be an electron. There's no electron that's a little bit different. You can't recognize your electron. They're all identical in that sense.

And so in some very abstract way, black holes share something in common with microscopic fundamental particles. And so what they tell us about the fundamental laws of physics can be very profound. And it's why even theoretical physicists, mathematical physicists, not just astronomers who use telescopes, they rely on the black hole as a terrain to perform their thought experiments.

And so in some very abstract way, black holes share something in common with microscopic fundamental particles. And so what they tell us about the fundamental laws of physics can be very profound. And it's why even theoretical physicists, mathematical physicists, not just astronomers who use telescopes, they rely on the black hole as a terrain to perform their thought experiments.

And so in some very abstract way, black holes share something in common with microscopic fundamental particles. And so what they tell us about the fundamental laws of physics can be very profound. And it's why even theoretical physicists, mathematical physicists, not just astronomers who use telescopes, they rely on the black hole as a terrain to perform their thought experiments.

And it's because there's something fundamental about them.

And it's because there's something fundamental about them.

And it's because there's something fundamental about them.

It's in reach for thought experiments.

It's in reach for thought experiments.