Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis

CORE DEFINITION

In general relativity, the strong and weak forms of the cosmic censorship hypothesis were proposed to mathematically explain the structure of gravitational singularities. In solutions to Einstein's field equations, there exist singularities hidden within event horizons, making them unobservable from the rest of spacetime (as if censored and unable to reveal their full nature). Singularities not hidden within horizons are called "naked singularities." The weak form of the cosmic censorship hypothesis conjectures that, except for the Big Bang being a naked singularity, there are no other naked singularities in the universe. This hypothesis was proposed by Roger Penrose in 1969. The cosmic censorship hypothesis is distinct from the so-called chronology censorship, where every closed timelike curve passes through an event horizon, potentially preventing observers from observing causality violations.