No-hair theorem

The no-hair theorem is about black holes. Black holes can be described by just three visible properties: mass, electric charge, and angular momentum, or spin.

The theory itself was first stated by Werner Israel, a Canadian physicist. Then John Archibald Wheeler said that black holes have no hairs. This gave the idea its name. What he meant was: except for these three properties, no other properties can be got from a black hole.[1] However, Wheeler said that Jacob Bekenstein coined the phrase.[2]

References

  1. Misner, Charles W; Thorne, Kip S. & Wheeler, John Archibald 1973. Gravitation. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. p875–6. ISBN 978-0716703341
  2. Interwiew with Jon Wheeler on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIHPWKXvGkE&t=6m.