
Originally Posted by
grmpysmrf
So, it could potentially be it's own universe? a container within a container?
Yes, that is very real possibility. If you omit two dimensions and embed the result ( called Schwarzschild geometry ) into Euclidean space for visualisation purposes, then space-time in and around a black hole actually looks like this :
This is the most simplistic case, being a black hole which is perfectly spherically symmetric, as well as stationary. Note that this isn't just a
hole, but actually a
bridge, and for that reason also called an Einstein-Rosen-Bridge. While this local geometry is an exact analytical solution of the Einstein equations, that solution cannot tell us whether the bridge connects two regions of our universe, or two completely separate universes ( that's because Einstein's theory fixes only the geometry, but not the topology of space-time ). The latter is thus definitely a possibility.
existence is just that, the state of being. just because it's not connected to the rest of the universe doesn't mean it is not here... it's there. it still exists. I'm thinking of it like someone who emigrates from their home country. they are no longer part of the country but they still exist somewhere else, no? In this instance the photon still exists even if it's not readily seen, right?
This is not a trivial question, and I don't think I can give you a definite answer. It all hinges on what happens in the central part of the black hole - currently we don't know for sure, because we are missing a crucial model ( quantum gravity ) to tell us what exactly goes on there. We do know though that this is where the photon will end up.
I think so, but isn't the photon just energy anyway? so if the energy still exists doesn't that mean the photon still exists and just needs to be put back to the original photon state?
Yes, that's what I said. I meant to point out only that energy has no "labels" attached to it, so what you use to construct a new photon mightn't be the same energy that the in falling photon carried. It's like adding more water to an already half-filled bottle, and then taking a sip - are you drinking the
same water you just added ? How would you know ?
So how do things get trapped there?
The actual details are rather complicated, but intuitively you can think of the process as "time" and "space" trading places once you cross the event horizon. What was once the "down" direction now has become your "future" - and that is the singularity at the centre of the black hole. So once you cross the horizon, you will have the singularity in your future, no matter how and where you try to move around - it is simply inevitable, and there is no escape, since time ticks only in one direction, towards the future.