New research suggests that there is a 90% chance that within the next decade, humanity could use a space or Earth-based telescope to spot an exploding black hole.
If that model is correct, then a primordial black hole explosion could be witnessed once every 10 years.
Perhaps the most familiar concept of black holes is the so-called stellar mass black hole, with masses between 10 and 1,000 times the mass of the sun.
Stellar mass black holes are considered to be electrically neutral, and until now, primordial black holes were theorized to be the same.
That results in a primordial black hole explosion occurring on average once every 10 years rather than once every 100,000 years.
Humanity has a 90% chance of detecting an exploding black hole within the next ten years using a space or terrestrial telescope, according to new research. Such a detection would change our perspective of the universe by proving the existence of “primordial black holes” born 13.8 billion years ago, a second after the Big Bang.
Black holes can explode, as scientists have long suspected, but the time it takes to do so increases with the black hole’s mass. According to earlier estimates, the largest black holes could take longer to explode than the universe’s estimated lifetime. According to earlier hypotheses, such an explosion would occur once every 100,000 years at most for the smallest black holes.
The researchers behind this new study, however, proposed a novel model of black hole electric charge that they refer to as a “dark-QED toy model.”. A very heavy, hypothetical form of the electron—dubbed a “dark electron” by the team—is included in this model. One primordial black hole explosion every ten years might be observed if that model is accurate.
According to theory, the universe would be flooded with every conceivable particle if a primordial black hole exploded. This would include the known particles of the standard model of particle physics, such as quarks, electrons, and Higgs bosons, as well as more exotic particles, like the particles that might constitute dark matter.
Accordingly, detecting such an explosion could solve a number of mysteries pertaining to particles outside the standard model in addition to proving the existence of primordial black holes.
Team member Michael Baker of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, stated in a statement, “We’re not saying that it’s absolutely going to happen this decade, but there could be a 90 percent chance that it does.”. “We should be prepared because we already have the technology to watch these explosions. “..”.
‘Leak’ or ‘leak’?
The team’s theory is based on the fact that black holes have a range of masses.
The so-called stellar mass black hole, which has masses ranging from 10 to 1,000 times that of the sun, is arguably the most well-known idea of black holes. Massive stars that run out of nuclear fuel and are unable to sustain themselves against their own inward gravitational pull give birth to these black holes. This causes the “black” in black holes to be a region of spacetime with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape it quickly enough.
Supermassive black holes are thought to form from a series of increasingly larger mergers between smaller black holes, as they are too massive to have formed from dying stars. Their masses are comparable to millions or even billions of suns.
However, compared to even stellar mass black holes, primordial black holes are thought to be much smaller, with masses ranging from giant planets to asteroids of average size. It is hypothesized that primordial black holes were formed by early density fluctuations in the universe shortly after the Big Bang, rather than by stars.
The British physicist and science communicator Stephen Hawking first proposed the idea of black holes exploding in 1974. Hawking proposed that black holes “leak” a form of thermal radiation that would later be known as “Hawking radiation.”. “.”.
The black hole would gradually evaporate as a result of Hawking radiation emission, coming to an explosive end in the process. The mass of the black hole that is emitting this radiation determines its temperature, but the relationship is inverse: the larger the black hole mass, the lower the “Hawking temperature.”. Additionally, smaller black holes would radiate Hawking radiation much more quickly and lose their already smaller mass more quickly than monstrously massive black holes because they are much hotter than the surrounding space.
And according to scientists, we ought to be able to identify them in this way. A black hole’s temperature should rise and its particle emission should increase with its lightness. Andrae Thamm, a team member and researcher at UMass Amherst, explained that as primordial black holes evaporate, they get lighter and hotter, releasing more radiation in a runaway process that ends in explosion. Our telescopes can pick up on that Hawking radiation. “.”.
Thus, primordial black holes should be detectable by astronomers, but they have so far proven difficult to find.
Joaquim Iguaz Juan, a team member and researcher at UMass Amherst, stated, “We know how to observe Hawking radiation.”. We can observe it using the telescopes we currently have, and since only these primordial black holes have the potential to explode now or in the near future, we can be certain that if we detect Hawking radiation, we are witnessing an exploding primordial black hole. “.”.
Previously, the chance of detecting an exploding primordial black hole has been deemed infinitesimally small; however, as Iguaz Juan pointed out, “our job as physicists is to question the received assumptions, to ask better questions and come up with more precise hypotheses. “.”.
By reevaluating theories regarding the electric charge of black holes, the team challenged presumptions. Primordial black holes were once thought to be electrically neutral, just as stellar mass black holes are today.
Baker stated that “we make a different assumption.”. We demonstrate how the toy model predicts that a primordial black hole should be momentarily stabilized before exploding if it is formed with a tiny dark electric charge. “..”.
As a result, instead of happening once every 100,000 years, a primordial black hole explosion happens on average once every ten.
The team’s next objective is to prepare for such a detection and capitalize on the 90 percent probability of a primordial black hole exploding that they predict.
The direct observation of a PBH and Hawking radiation would be the first in history. Additionally, a definitive record of each particle that constitutes the universe would be obtained,” Iguaz Juan stated. “We would be able to rewrite the universe’s history and completely transform physics.”. “..”.
