The Mystery Of Black Holes May Be Coming To Light

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have discovered new theories that explain several properties of black holes. The research reveals black holes have similar properties to that of both solids and liquids.

The formation of black holes occurs when a huge star as much as 10 times larger than the sun dies in a supernova. The outer part is left in the space and the inner part collapses in its own gravity into the black hole. They are very massive and extremely heavy and possess a strong gravitational force. It has the ability to absorb anything that comes close to it including light. And since light cannot reflect, the bodies are dark, therefore getting the name black hole, according to nbi.ku.

"But black holes are not completely black, because we know that they emit radiation and there are indications that the radiation is thermal, i.e. it has a temperature," said Niels Obers, a professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

Obers designed a theoretical model to understand the physics of black holes. He explained the properties of black holes by initially considering black hole as a particle, which has no dimension. Then when a particle is given a dimension, it becomes a string. In the same way string with an extra dimension forms a plane and such a plane is known as "brane" according to the physicists, Obers said.

"In string theory, you can have different branes, including planes that behave like black holes, which we call black branes. The black branes are thermal, that is to say, they have a temperature and are dynamical objects. When black branes are folded into multiple dimensions, they form a 'blackfold'," said Obers, in a report published in nbi.ku, who started working on this new theory with associate professor in theoretical physics at the Niels Bohr Institute, Troels Harmark, in 2009.

Now along with two doctoral students Jay Armas and Jakob Gath, Obers has made a breakthrough in describing the black holes in a different and unique way of the black branes and black folds. Armas explained the properties of black branes in a report published in nbi.ku: "The black branes are hydro-dynamic objects, that is to say that they have the properties of a liquid. We have now discovered that black branes also have properties, which can be explained in terms of solids. They can behave like elastic material when we bend them."

He further reveals the link between gravity and fluid dynamics and solid-state physics. He said when the black branes are bent and folded forming black folds, due to the pressure electricity is discharged and this effect is called piezoelectric effect.

"With these new theories, we expect to be able to explain other black hole phenomena, and we expect to be able to better understand the physical properties of neutron stars. We also expect to gain a greater understanding of the so-called particle theories, which are, for example, relevant for understanding the quark-gluon-plasma in the primordial universe," Obers said in nbi.ku.

These unique findings have been published scientific journal, Physical Review.