CENTRA Seminar - L^5/G ~ 3.6 X 10^52 W - 29 março 2018

This is the one constant with dimensions of power, or luminosity, which can be formed out of the classical universal constants: h, G, and c. It has been conjectured that it is, in fact, the maximum possible luminosity for any process in the Universe (e.g. Gibbons [2002], Thorne [1984], and possibly Dyson [1963]). I will describe the motivation for this idea and attempt to formulate a precise maximum luminosity conjecture. I will also present the results of a range of calculations designed to test the robustness of the conjecture.