The theory of relativity was put forth by Albert Einstein in the beginning of the 20th century as the
correct theoretical-mathematical framework in which to study gravity. Einsteins ingenious
observation was that gravity is not a force, but a manifestation of the curvature of the geometry of
the spacetime-continuum.
Many physically relevant phenomena (e.g. black holes) however necessitate going beyond the
classical (smooth) methods of spacetime geometry, hence we will use the recently developed
methods of nonsmooth spacetime geometry in order to obtain deeper insights. With the help of these
new methods, we aim at generalizing known classical theorems, such as the result regarding
gravitational collapse by Roger Penrose (Nobel Prize Physics 2020) or statements regarding the
rigidity of certain spacetime scenarios.