Abhas Mitra

Abhas Mitra (born June 3, 1955) is an Indian astrophysicist best known for his distinct views on several frontline astrophysics concepts, particularly black holes and Big Bang Cosmology Mitra have regularly questioned the mainstream cosmological concepts of Big Bang and Black Hole, He claims to have offered exact proofs that (i) The socalled Black Holes cannot be true black black holes even within the context of classical General relativity and (ii) The Big Bang solution is illusory and actual universe must be fundamentally different from the big bang paradigmConsequently Dark Energy, his research claims, is an illusion caused by the departure of the complex universe from the simple big bang modelAs of 2014, he heads the theoretical astrophysics section of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
Though Mitra stresses that the `Black Hole solutions are correct, his contention is that Black Hole masses, arising from relevant integration constants, are actually zero His peer reviewed paper published in Journal of Mathematical Physics of the American Institute of Physics supports this contention by showing that Schwarzschild black holes have M = 0[27] If so, (i) The socalled massive Black Hole Candidates (BHCs) must be quasiblack holes rather than exact black holes and (ii) During preceding gravitational collapse, entire mass energy and angular momentum of the collapsing objects must be radiated away before formation of exact mathematical black holes And since the formation of a mathematical zero mass black hole requires infinite proper time, continued gravitational collapse becomes eternal, and the socalled black hole candidates must be Eternally Collapsing Objects (ECO)Mitras peer reviewed papers describe why continued physical gravitational collapse should lead to formation of ECOs rather than true black holes, and the mathematical ``black hole states can be achieved only asymptotically An ECO is essentially a quasistable ultracompact ball of fire (plasma) which is so hot due to preceding gravitational contraction that its outward radiation pressure balances its inward pull of gravity Some American astrophysicists claimed to have verified this prediction that astrophysical Black Hole Candidates are actually ECOs rather than true mathematical black holes The corresponding Harvard University Press Release acknowledges Mitras original contribution in this context