(ORDO NEWS) — When the Cooper is the main character of the famous “Interstellar”, crosses the horizon of the events of the black hole and falls into the four -dimensional space, then can see any objects and the time emanating from them.
But what is actually going on inside these space monsters? The general theory of relativity (GR) states that there is a singularity behind the event horizon, which means that space and time are compressed.
Formally, a singularity is a point at which the material that forms a black hole has collapsed, and the laws of physics known to us simply do not work there. Scientists, however, do not exclude other options.
Stephen Hawking, for example, did not rule out that black holes could be portals to other universes. But how do you know what’s inside if no one can ever get there?
The answer to this question can be suggested by gravitational waves and computer simulations.
What is a singularity and a “point of no return”?
In 2015, scientists from the LARGO and VIRGO laboratories reported the detection of gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes.
Until that moment, black holes were considered hypothetical objects, and even Einstein did not believe in the ability to prove their existence (the same can be said about gravitational waves).
However, the year is 2023, and humanity has “in its pocket” not only gravitational waves, but also images of the event horizon of two black holes.
Recall that black holes are objects in space-time, the gravitational force of which is so great that all the matter absorbed by them disappears forever.
We know about this thanks to the event horizon – the luminous ring of these space monsters. When matter crosses the so-called point of no return, it becomes forever a prisoner of black holes.
Having refreshed the memory of the discoveries of recent years, let’s not forget about the singularity – the central region of a black hole located beyond the event horizon.
It is believed that the mass of a black hole with infinite density is concentrated at this point, but what exactly happens there is unknown.
Black holes and computer models
But let’s get back to gravitational waves – “ripples” in space-time, which spread like waves as a result of cosmic catastrophes – collisions of neutron stars or black holes: the greater the mass and speed of objects, the greater the oscillations of gravitational waves.
The detection of gravitational waves once again confirmed Einstein’s general relativity, and over the years since then, about 100 merging black holes have been discovered.
Now, thanks to the work of a team of 14 scientists led by Columbia University professor Lam Hui, simulations of cosmic catastrophes pave the way for a deeper understanding of the structure of black holes during collisions.
In a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team describes a sophisticated way to model a signal emitted by gravitational waves by including non-linear interactions in the model.
Previously, gravitational wave models included only linear interactions, which work well, but do not take into account the various behaviors of observable space objects.
A new study improves models by 10% (which is a lot).
This is a big step in preparing for the next step in detecting gravitational waves and understanding gravity and phenomena observed in the far corners of space, the authors of the scientific work write.
Note that the nonlinearity of models for describing gravitational waves can be compared with waves in the ocean: calmly rising and falling are described by linear equations, and large and breaking ones are described by nonlinear equations.
The latter demonstrate the movement of water in a wave, including water droplets that are contained in the air.
The new method also provides clues about what goes on inside black holes by describing gravity under extreme astrophysical conditions.
“In an attempt to get to the bottom of the truth, we watch the ripples of space-time like detectives.
And this is the best way to learn as much as possible about their mysterious nature, ”said one of the 14 authors of the scientific work.
Black hole simulation
The study came in handy: in March, the LIGO observatory will resume work after closing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several large gravitational wave detectors are expected to collect data in the coming years, and better computer models could lead to new discoveries.
Improved computer models make it possible to estimate the space-time structure of black holes and their contents, as they “listen” for the sound coming from the collision and merger of these space monsters.
In the future, these models are expected to help map the internal structure of black holes and what happens to the matter trapped there.
Non-linear interactions can be likened to shaking a box and making a sound that lets you know about its contents.
In this case, the shaking is the collision of two black holes, and the sound is the gravitational waves emitted in the process.
The result, experts expect, will make it possible to detect even more cosmic catastrophes in the most remote corners of the universe.
Further work on improving computer models is a big step in preparing for the next stage of detecting gravitational waves and studying the most important (and mysterious) force of nature – gravity and its behavior in the vastness of the infinite Universe.
But computer modeling is only a small part of this colossal work.
How to explain the singularity?
Shedding light on the mystery of the contents of black holes can be dark energy – the force due to which the Universe expands at an ever-increasing speed (which, for a second, contradicts general relativity).
The key to understanding the structure of black holes is related to dark energy, say the results of new studies in which scientists measured the mass of black holes in a giant elliptical galaxy.
Star formation in such galaxies usually stops, and there is a catastrophic lack of “building” material.
This means that black holes in the center of such galaxies have nothing to absorb, which means that these objects cannot gain mass, experts explain.
In distant elliptical galaxies without star formation, supermassive black holes continued to grow.
What’s more, these mysterious objects were getting more massive at about the same rate as the universe was expanding. “This suggests that black holes may play a role in the creation of dark energy,” the article says.
In our current understanding, the center of a black hole is the point at which the known laws of physics break down due to the excessive force of gravity. In this case, the singularity is mathematically impossible.
“When the physics inside a black hole gets weird, its mass becomes associated with the expansion of the entire universe,” the researchers report.
Many physicists have also speculated that instead of a singularity, the center of a black hole may contain what is known as vacuum energy, one possible form of the mysterious dark energy.
And yet, it is impossible to argue that physicists have solved the mystery of dark energy and know what is inside black holes.
However, the use of updated computer models, along with further observations and data collection, will answer many fundamental questions about the world and the universe in which we live.
What do you think is inside black holes? Could they be portals to other worlds, or are they a source of mysterious dark energy?
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