J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland Snyder calculated the continued gravitational collapse of an ideal pressureless spherical body in general relativity. Their 1939 model distinguishes the finite time measured along the infalling matter from the distant-coordinate description of the surface. Escaping light becomes progressively redshifted, connecting the dynamics of collapse with what an outside observer can receive. The calculation is a deliberately simplified model, with pressure and nonspherical structure omitted, whose importance lies in following the contraction beyond a static equilibrium description.[ref]
On Continued Gravitational Contraction by J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland Snyder. 1939 pressureless spherical-collapse model and distant/infalling time descriptions
Homepage: www.ias.edu/oppenheimer-legacy
Portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer
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J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who is best known for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project, the World War II endeavor that developed the first nuclear weapons. Born on April 22, 1904, in New York City, he was a prominent figure in the field of quantum mechanics and made significant contributions to theoretical physics.