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    • A new study suggests black holes could be sources of dark energy that boost academia.
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    A new study suggests black holes could be sources of dark energy that boost academia.

    Pabio Posted on

    In a groundbreaking new study published in the journal Cosmology and Astrophysical Particle Physics, researchers from the University of Michigan and Arizona State University have proposed a deep connection between dark energy and black holes, suggesting that black holes could be sources of dark energy influencing cosmic evolution. . The study introduces the concept of “cosmological coupling,” a new idea that suggests black holes are not just passive objects, but could play an active role in dark energy interactions.

    Astrophysicist Kevin Croker of Arizona State University and his colleagues studied the connection between black holes and dark energy when black holes form. “If black holes contain dark energy, they can couple and grow with the expanding universe, causing its growth to accelerate,” Croker explained. “We can’t get details on how this happens, but we can see evidence that it’s happening,” he added.

    The research team used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter telescope in Arizona to search for evidence of dark energy coming from black holes. Equipped with 5,000 robotic sensors designed to scan the sky for dark energy, DESI provided precise measurements, allowing researchers to calculate the expansion rate of the universe with remarkable precision, consistent with current measurements .

    By analyzing data throughout the age of the universe, the team estimated the amount of dark energy and found a correspondence between the increasing density of dark energy and the increasing mass of black holes as that the universe was aging. This provided a compelling clue supporting the idea of ​​what dark energy is. “The two phenomena were consistent with each other: as new black holes were created following the death of massive stars, the amount of dark energy in the universe increased in just the right way,” he said. noted Duncan Farrah, co-author of the study. “This makes it more plausible that black holes are the source of dark energy.”

    Physicist Gregory Tarlé of the University of Michigan gave a more in-depth look at the results. “If you ask yourself the question: ‘Where in the later Universe do we see gravity as strong as it was in the early Universe?’ the answer is at the center of black holes,” Tarlé explained. He described the process as “reverse inflation”, where the collapse of a massive star could generate dark energy, acting like the reverse Big Bang. Tarlé pointed out: “Fundamentally, the question of whether black holes are dark energy, coupled with the universe they inhabit, is no longer just a theoretical question. It is now an experimental question.”

    The study found that black holes formed from the collapse of massive stars can contribute dark energy as they expand. By comparing the rate of black hole formation with the expansion of the universe, the researchers observed that as more black holes form, the amount of dark energy increases in a manner consistent with observations of the accelerated expansion of the universe. This suggests that black holes could be sources of dark energy linked to the expansion of the universe.

    The concept of cosmological coupling arose from attempts to resolve the strangeness of black holes with interpretations of general relativity. Any growth demonstrated by black holes in galaxies that have stopped forming new stars could not be attributed to normal growth mechanisms but to cosmological coupling. The research team discovered signs of growth in the black holes of these “dead” galaxies, which they said validated their idea of ​​cosmological coupling.

    “If the hypothesis that black holes are linked to dark energy proves correct, it would revolutionize conventional knowledge about black holes and dark energy,” the researchers said. The potential implications of this study extend to resolving the Hubble tension, a problem in cosmology where different parts of the universe appear to expand at different speeds, creating contradictions in current models. The concept suggests that black holes could influence these contradictions.

    Despite the promising evidence, the team emphasizes that additional research using tools like DESI will be needed to confirm these initial observations. “Researchers hope that similar observations with tools such as DESI will further improve this knowledge in the future,” they noted. “Scientists have not provided enough evidence to support the hypothesis that black holes have anything to do with dark energy.”

    The research offers solutions to several outstanding questions about dark energy and the expansion of the universe, representing a new chapter in our understanding of black holes and the forces that shape the universe. As Tarlé concluded: “Fundamentally, the question of whether black holes are dark energy, coupled with the universe they inhabit, is no longer just a theoretical question. This is now an experimental question. »

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    Sources: News18, ScienceAlert, Al Youm Al Saba

    This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq



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