Black Holes and the Law

Resources about the legal controversy over
the safety of the Large Hadron Collider

Eric E. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Law, University of North Dakota School of Law

It's one of the most interesting and daunting judicial controversies to come around in a long time: A few very worried individuals claim that a brand new, multi-billion-dollar largest-of-its-kind particle accelerator under Switzerland and France, CERN's Large Hadron Collider, could create a black hole capable of devouring the Earth.

The controversy raises an number of fascinating questions and conundrums of jurisprudence, equity, remedies, civil procedure, evidence, epistemology, and international law.

This web page is an ongoing effort to collect information, documents, and links to enable people to explore this intriguing case.

Article

The Black-Hole Case: The Injunction Against the End of the World,
76 Tennessee Law Review 819 (2009)

PrawfsBlawg posts I've written

[Part 1] October 21, 2008:
Could Bad Judging Cause the Earth to Be Sucked Into a Black Hole? Maybe.

[Part 2] October 21, 2008:
Planet-Eating Black Hole vs. Maverick Scientists: The Ultimate Preliminary-Injunction Case

[Part 3] October 24, 2008:
Culture and Inscrutable Science: An Analytical Method for Preliminary Injunctions in Extreme Cases

[Part 4] November 10, 2008:
Scientocracy and the Need for Judicial Process

[Part 5] November 16, 2008:
Black Holes and the Law: This is the End

Judicial opinions

Sancho v. DOE (D. Hawaii 2008)

Links tracking the science debate

UC Irvine's Jonathan L. Feng explains why there is nothing to worry about

An interview with Dr. Otto Roessler, explaining why people should worry

Otto E. Rossler, "Abraham-Solution to Schwarzschild Metric Implies That CERN Miniblack Holes Pose a Planetary Risk"

Otto E. Rossler, "A Rational and Moral and Spiritual Dilemma"

Comments from Prof. Dr. Hermann Nicolai, Director, Max Planck-Institut fur Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) Potsdam, Germany on speculations raised by Professor Otto Roessler about the production of black holes at the LHC

Steven B. Giddings and Michelangelo L. Mangano, "Astrophysical implications of hypothetical stable TeV-scale black holes," arXiv:0806.3381 (published later in Phys. Rev. D 78, 035009Â (2008)).

Rainer Plaga, "On the potential catastrophic risk from metastable quantum-black holes produced at particle colliders," arXiv:0808.1415

Steven B. Giddings and Michelangelo L. Mangano, "Comments on claimed risk from metastable black holes," arXiv:0808.4087.

LHC Safety Assessment Group, "Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions" (the CERN commissioned safety review)

Black Holes and the Law Resources about the legal controversy over the safety of the Large Hadron Collider
Eric E. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Law, University of North Dakota School of Law
It's one of the most interesting and daunting judicial controversies to come around in a long time: A few very worried individuals claim that a brand new, multi-billion-dollar largest-of-its-kind particle accelerator under Switzerland and France, CERN's Large Hadron Collider, could create a black hole capable of devouring the Earth. The controversy raises an number of fascinating questions and conundrums of jurisprudence, equity, remedies, civil procedure, evidence, epistemology, and international law. This web page is an ongoing effort to collect information, documents, and links to enable people to explore this intriguing case.	Article The Black-Hole Case: The Injunction Against the End of the World, 76 Tennessee Law Review 819 (2009) PrawfsBlawg posts I've written [Part 1] October 21, 2008: Could Bad Judging Cause the Earth to Be Sucked Into a Black Hole? Maybe. [Part 2] October 21, 2008: Planet-Eating Black Hole vs. Maverick Scientists: The Ultimate Preliminary-Injunction Case [Part 3] October 24, 2008: Culture and Inscrutable Science: An Analytical Method for Preliminary Injunctions in Extreme Cases [Part 4] November 10, 2008: Scientocracy and the Need for Judicial Process [Part 5] November 16, 2008: Black Holes and the Law: This is the End Judicial opinions Sancho v. DOE (D. Hawaii 2008) Links tracking the science debate UC Irvine's Jonathan L. Feng explains why there is nothing to worry about An interview with Dr. Otto Roessler, explaining why people should worry Otto E. Rossler, "Abraham-Solution to Schwarzschild Metric Implies That CERN Miniblack Holes Pose a Planetary Risk" Otto E. Rossler, "A Rational and Moral and Spiritual Dilemma" Comments from Prof. Dr. Hermann Nicolai, Director, Max Planck-Institut fur Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) Potsdam, Germany on speculations raised by Professor Otto Roessler about the production of black holes at the LHC Steven B. Giddings and Michelangelo L. Mangano, "Astrophysical implications of hypothetical stable TeV-scale black holes," arXiv:0806.3381 (published later in Phys. Rev. D 78, 035009Â (2008)). Rainer Plaga, "On the potential catastrophic risk from metastable quantum-black holes produced at particle colliders," arXiv:0808.1415 Steven B. Giddings and Michelangelo L. Mangano, "Comments on claimed risk from metastable black holes," arXiv:0808.4087. LHC Safety Assessment Group, "Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions" (the CERN commissioned safety review)