The bizarre quantum properties of black holes, including their mind-blowing ability to have different masses simultaneously, have been confirmed by physicists at the University of Queensland.
A UQ-led team of theoretical physicists, led by Ph.D. candidate Joshua Foo, has performed calculations that reveal startling quantum black hole phenomena.
“Black holes are an incredibly unique and fascinating feature of our universe,” Foo said.
“They are created when gravity compresses a large amount of matter incredibly densely into a tiny space, creating such a gravitational pull that not even light can escape.
“It’s a phenomenon that can be triggered by a dying star.
“But, until now, we haven’t studied in depth whether black holes display some of the weird and wonderful behaviors of quantum physics.
“One such behavior is superposition, where quantum-scale particles can exist in multiple states at the same time.
“This is most often exemplified by Schrödinger’s cat, which can be both dead and alive simultaneously.
“But, for black holes, we wanted to see if they could have very different masses at the same time, and it turns out they do.
“Imagine that you are both broad and tall, as well as short and skinny at the same time, this is an intuitively confusing situation since we are steeped in the world of traditional physics.
“But that’s the reality of quantum black holes.”
To reveal this, the team developed a mathematical framework that allows us to “place” a particle outside a theoretical superimposed-mass black hole.
Mass was examined specifically, because it is a defining characteristic of a black hole, and because it is plausible that quantum black holes naturally have mass superposition.
Research co-director Dr Magdalena Zych said the research actually reinforces the conjectures raised by the pioneers of quantum physics.
“Our work shows that the very early theories of Jacob Bekenstein – an American-Israeli theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the foundation of black hole thermodynamics – were profitable,” she said.
“He postulated that black holes can only have masses that are of certain values, i.e. they must be within certain bands or ratios – that’s how energy levels work. of an atom, for example.
“Our modeling showed that these overlapping masses were, in fact, in certain bands or determined ratios – as predicted by Bekenstein.
“We didn’t assume such a pattern, so the fact that we found this evidence was quite surprising.
“The universe reveals to us that it is always stranger, mysterious and fascinating than most of us could ever have imagined.”
The research has been published in Physical examination letters.
More information:
Joshua Foo et al, Quantum Signatures of Black Hole Mass Superpositions, Physical examination letters (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.181301
Provided by the University of Queensland
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