(Image courtesy of Robert Lee (created with Canva))
A team of scientists has developed a model of black holes that eliminates one of the most troubling aspects of physics: the central singularity, the point where all our theories, laws and concepts collapse.
If you were to create an object that was both mysterious and deeply disturbing, a black hole would be the perfect choice.
First, the boundary of these cosmic giants is a one-sided, light-trapping surface known as the event horizon—the point at which the black hole’s gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. This means that no information can escape the black hole, so we’ll never be able to directly observe or measure what’s at its center.
By applying the mathematics of Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity, scientists can model the interior structure of a black hole. The problem is that general relativity also says that all mathematical values tend to infinity at a “singularity” inside the black hole.
A new study suggests that “ordinary black holes” without a central singularity – the physics equivalent of “having two ends” – may be far more common than just the dreams of hopeful physicists.
“The singularity is the most mysterious and problematic part of a black hole. It’s the point where our notions of space and time actually stop making sense,” team member Roby Hennigar, a scientist at Durham University in England, told Space.com. “If singularities aren’t in black holes, they’re much more common.”
Singular Thinkers: Physicists Aim for Unity
Einstein's theory of general relativity states that objects with mass distort the very fabric of spacetime (the three dimensions of space combined with one dimension of time), and gravity arises from this curvature. The greater the mass, the greater the curvature of spacetime, and therefore the greater the force of gravity. All of this is calculated using the equations that form the basis of general relativity: Einstein's field equations.
“The methods for determining the curvature of spacetime are based on Einstein's field equations, which are the cornerstone of general relativity,” team member Pablo Antonio Cano Molina-Ninirola of the Institute of Space Sciences at the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) in Spain told Space.com.
“These equations have been extremely successful because they predict many observable phenomena in the universe, from the motion of planets to the evolution of the universe to the existence of black holes,” he added. “But they also predict the presence of singularities, which creates problems.”
Black holes are regions of spacetime with extreme curvature that first appeared as a concept in solutions to Einstein's field equations proposed by the German physicist and astronomer Karl Schwarzschild while he was serving at the front during World War I in 1915. These solutions lead to infinity at the center of the region. Physicists dislike infinity because it indicates the collapse or incompleteness of their theories, or suggests something entirely unphysical. This means something truly disturbing and undesirable to physicists.
“In the framework of general relativity, the interior of a black hole resembles a collapsing universe, where the singularity represents the moment when space itself collapses,” Molina-Ninirola said.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
