Black holes, these dark extremely dense objects, are the most intriguing phenomenon in astronomy,
and their origin has remained the largest mystery.
Scientists currently believe that supermassive black holes formed from the primordial black
holes that existed immediately after the big bang.
A black hole is formed when a star dies with such a strong gravitational field that the
matter gets squeezed into the little region underneath it, trapping the light of the dead
star.
Because matter is crammed into such a small space, gravity is extremely strong.
The reason we see objects is because they either emit light or reflect it.
Black holes don't do either, so we can't see them.
But how did supermassive black holes form?
And what is dark matter exactly?
In an alternative model for how the universe formed, a team of astronomers proposes that
“primordial black holes” could explain both supermassive black holes and dark matter.
Their model argues that black holes have existed since the beginning of time and that these
primordial black holes may be the as-of-yet mysterious dark matter.
A group of researchers conducted a study and stated that if most black holes formed soon
after the Big Bang, they could have begun merging in the early universe, resulting in
the formation of more and more massive black holes over time.
According to the new research, tiny primordial black holes populated the early universe shortly
after the Big Bang, acting like a star and galaxy formation accelerator.
This theory by itself is not new; it was proposed by Stephen Hawking in 1971.
However, in the new study, a group of astronomers illustrates how the presence of such primordial
black holes neatly fills certain major gaps in our current knowledge of the universe.
Black holes of various sizes are still a mystery.
Astronomers are baffled by how supermassive black holes could have grown so enormous in
the short time since the universe began.
Scientists are hopeful that when the future gravitational wave space observatory, LISA,
becomes operational, it will be able to detect the signals of those mergers if primordial
black holes exist.
The study also suggests that if supermassive black holes exist, then extremely small black
holes may exist as well, and if so, they are too small to have formed from dying stars.
Small black holes could be primordial black holes that haven’t merged into larger ones
yet.
Citing the study, the European Space Agency said that the universe would be full of black
holes all over according to this model.
Over billions of years, stars would start to form around these clumps of dark matter,
forming solar systems and galaxies.
If it is true that the first stars formed around primordial black holes, then they would
have existed earlier in the universe than is expected by the standard model.
Co-author Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University said that primordial black holes, if they
do exist, could well be the seeds from which all black holes form, including the one at
the center of the Milky Way.
The European Space Agency’s Euclid project, which will investigate the dark universe in
more depth than ever before, could aid in the search for primordial black holes as dark
matter candidates.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be crucial in answering questions about the origin of
black holes and supermassive black holes.
Lift-off is currently targeted for no earlier than Dec. 24.
The mission’s primary purpose is to detect the first light in the universe, which came
from the first stars that formed after the Big Bang.
And when this happens, it will reveal which explanation is more accurate: that black holes
have existed since the beginning of time or that they just began to develop after the
first generation of stars died out.
James Webb has been nicknamed a cosmic time machine, and it’ll look back over more than
13 billion years to solve this enigma.
Webb should be able to see traces of the first stars and galaxies if they formed during the
so-called dark ages.