北京雁栖湖应用数学研究院

Black holes play a central role in general relativity and astrophysics. The Kerr solution of the Einstein equations describes a spacetime containing an isolated, rotating black hole. Following a brief introduction to the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations, I will discuss the main features of the geometry of the Kerr spacetime, including its algebraically special nature and consequences thereof, and some aspects of the Black Hole Stability Problem. Together with closely related Black Hole Uniqueness Problem and the Penrose Inequality, it is one of three major open mathematical problems of general relativity related to the Kerr solution.