Physicists have developed a groundbreaking model that provides mathematical evidence that singularities in black holes are hidden from observers.
In the 1960s, British physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose proposed the principle of “cosmic censorship,” a hypothesis suggesting that singularities – regions of space-time with extreme gravitational forces – are always hidden behind a black hole’s event horizon.
Singularities are unique points where the classical laws of physics, such as general relativity, break down. Although Penrose’s description of black hole singularities is widely accepted, the principle of ‘cosmic censorship’ has so far lacked mathematical proof.
Four years ago, Penrose received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work on singularities. Building on his ideas, researchers have developed a new model, published in Physical Assessment Lettersthat mathematically demonstrates how singularities in quantum black holes remain hidden.
The study’s authors believe their findings could unravel long-standing mysteries surrounding quantum gravity, the researchers report Interesting technology.
Unlike ordinary black holes, which form when massive stars collapse during supernova explosions, quantum black holes are theoretical subatomic objects that obey the laws of both quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Although ordinary black holes are known to exist in space, quantum black holes have yet to be observed and remain speculative. Some scientists hypothesize that they could be created in particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider.
To investigate the hidden nature of singularities, physicists have devised a model that examines how quantum matter interacts with quantum black holes. The model uses gravitational holography, a technique that studies gravity under extreme conditions.
Gravitational holography suggests that information about a black hole is encoded at its boundary, or event horizon, similar to how a hologram stores three-dimensional data in a two-dimensional image.
The model reveals that when quantum matter interacts with the space-time geometry of a quantum black hole, a quantum effect triggers the formation of an event horizon around the naked singularity, keeping it completely hidden from observers. This phenomenon is called quantum “cosmic censorship” by researchers.
Although the new model confirms the principle of ‘cosmic censorship’ for quantum black holes, mathematical proof for classical black holes remains elusive. However, researchers are optimistic that this quantum breakthrough will pave the way for similar results in classical physics.
Physicists believe their findings represent a crucial step toward solving the mysteries of quantum gravity – the theoretical framework that aims to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity.
A deeper understanding of black hole singularities and the behavior of ‘cosmic censorship’ under quantum influences could provide important insights into the structure of the universe.
