EWyatt

Baric, thanks for the reply. My VERY simplistic reply to the above is that the hypothetical gigantic neutron star would NOT have to compress any further, in terms of normal physics. For all we know, the size of a black hole's event horizon could very well be just "slightly" larger than the actual neutron star itself -- and as we know, neutron stars are VERY dense and gravity intense. There may be a mathematical resolution that states that a neutron star at ANY size could not have sufficient density to form an event horizon, but I haven't come across that yet. Regardless of the many discussions on this thread so far, I see nothing that would exclude this simple possibility. Again, I'm looking at this from a very basic viewpoint. At times, the answers may lie there.

Thank You to all for an interesting discussion. The fact that no definitive answer is provided (or even possible yet!) regarding my original question just shows how much we have yet to learn. Again, I don't believe in singularities, anything infinitesimally small or dense, or one-solar-mass black holes (really?) because some things just don't pass the "there is logic in physics" test. Nevertheless, I'm sticking to my original point: the possibility that a very, very dense, i.e., large, neutron star would have the gravitational effect exhibited by a black hole, Fermi pressure or not. Anyway, this was fun!

I would think that if there were a black hole within 4 light years, astronomers would have noticed the effects a black hole produces - the diffraction of light from other stars, gravity effects on nearby objects that are unseen, and the like.

The conversational theory of what constitutes a black hole core has resulted in many non-answers, some even dealing with an "infinitesimal singularity" which I find ridiculous. Why not just take a logical step back and conclude that a black hole, and its core, is simply a very large, dense neutron star! That would also keep current laws of physics intact, without all those hypothetical black hole hyperboles. Or has this neutron star thing been rebuffed already? Thanks.