An electron falling (electrostatically) toward a proton will reach the speed of light at some point. This is of course the same distance where inside it would need an escape velocity greater than c. So that's an event horizon due to a different force.
Some claim matter falling into a black hole never really does from the point of view of an outside observer. I've seen weird sounding descriptions like it "spreads out over the surface". What if electron orbitals are some kind of equivalent to that?
When I ask these (admittedly naive) questions, physicists will usually say something like "oh you have to treat that with quantum mechanics". But why? Isn't trying to resolve it using more conventional means (including concepts from relativity) a good idea? I feel like it's not right to reject one approach simply because nobody has figured out how to make it work while another does. That's different from showing that it can't work. Or have such approaches somehow been categorically proven inviable?
Some claim matter falling into a black hole never really does from the point of view of an outside observer. I've seen weird sounding descriptions like it "spreads out over the surface". What if electron orbitals are some kind of equivalent to that?
When I ask these (admittedly naive) questions, physicists will usually say something like "oh you have to treat that with quantum mechanics". But why? Isn't trying to resolve it using more conventional means (including concepts from relativity) a good idea? I feel like it's not right to reject one approach simply because nobody has figured out how to make it work while another does. That's different from showing that it can't work. Or have such approaches somehow been categorically proven inviable?