Physicists have successfully created a ‘black hole bomb’ in a laboratory setting, bringing us closer to understanding the mysteries of space-time and shedding light on dark matter.
Physicists have made a groundbreaking discovery, creating a ‘black hole bomb‘ in a laboratory setting. This concept has been around since the late 1960s, but the latest experiment brings us closer to understanding the mysteries of space-time.
A black hole bomb is a hypothetical object that forms when a small, dense star collapses into a singularity.
This occurs when the star's core undergoes a rapid collapse, causing a massive release of energy.
The resulting object has such strong gravity that not even light can escape, making it invisible to observation.
Black hole bombs are thought to be responsible for some gamma-ray bursts, which are intense explosions that release enormous amounts of energy.
The idea behind the black hole bomb is to boost energy with a black hole and then trap it with mirrors until an explosion occurs. However, the team’s creation in the lab is a harmless test without a real ‘black hole’ that could suck the planet into oblivion. Instead of exploring ways to harness energy from a black hole for military purposes, the researchers aim to study how black holes drag and accelerate the fabric of space-time around themselves.
A black hole is a region in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, including light, can escape.
It is formed when a massive star collapses in on itself and its gravity becomes so strong that it warps the fabric of spacetime around it.
Black holes come in different sizes, ranging from small stellar-mass black holes to supermassive ones found at the centers of galaxies.
They play a crucial role in shaping the universe's evolution.
The Concept Behind the Black Hole Bomb
The idea behind the black hole bomb is to boost energy with a ‘black hole’ and then trap it with mirrors until an explosion occurs. However, the team’s creation in the lab is a harmless test without a real ‘black hole’ that could suck the planet into oblivion. Instead of exploring ways to harness energy from a black hole for military purposes, the researchers aim to study how black holes drag and accelerate the fabric of space-time around themselves.
The Research Behind the Black Hole Bomb
Yakov Zel’dovich, Belarusian physicist, first proposed the idea of extracting rotational energy from a black hole in 1971. His concept involved creating a spinning system to investigate whether the extreme conditions inside a ‘black hole’ could be exploited without breaking the laws of conservation of energy.
In recent years, University of Southampton physics professor Hendrik Ulbricht and his colleagues have built on this vision. Starting in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Ulbricht created an early proof-of-concept using a rotating aluminum cylinder and magnetic fields. The team’s latest experiment used a cylindrical mirror to amplify energy and create a positive feedback loop.
The Results of the Experiment
The researchers’ experiment successfully demonstrated the ‘Zel’dovich effect,’ which involves throwing a low-frequency electromagnetic wave against a spinning cylinder and receiving back more energy than was initially thrown in. This phenomenon is predicted by existing theories about how black holes interact with space-time.
University of Lisbon professor Vitor Cardoso, who was not involved in the research, described the results as ‘totally mind-boggling.’ Even without generating a magnetic field, the setup still produced a signal, confirming that the experiment aligned with theoretical expectations.
The Potential Impact of the Research
While the black hole bomb is currently a harmless test, the team hopes that their research will contribute to a better understanding of how black holes energize nearby particles and shed light on dark matter. Dark matter makes up approximately 27 percent of the universe’s matter and remains one of the greatest mysteries in physics.
Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that is thought to exist in the universe, but has yet to be directly observed.
It is estimated to make up approximately 27% of the universe's total mass-energy density.
The existence of dark matter was first proposed by Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky in the 1930s, based on his observations of galaxy clusters.
Dark matter is believed to play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
The researchers acknowledge that harvesting energy from a real ‘black hole’ is still a significant challenge, but they believe their work represents a crucial step forward. By studying the behavior of black holes and space-time, scientists can gain valuable insights into the fundamental nature of our universe.
- futurism.com | Scientists Say Theyve Built a Black Hole Bomb
