An exotic phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory of gravity has been discovered by researchers at the University of Wales.
This is the first time that this effect has been seen in black holes, where the twisting is 10 billion times faster than before.
The black hole system was discovered in the early 2020s. One of the black holes, 40 times larger than our Sun, is the fastest spinning black hole to be found. The rapid rotation of the black hole distorted space and time so much that the entire system wobbled.
The form of precession is specific to Einstein's theory. The collision of two black holes is the most extreme physical event that can be observed.
"We have thought for a long time that black holes can do this," said Professor Mark Hannam. Since the first detection of the waves, we have been looking for an example. We had to wait for five years and over 80 different detections.
The wobble of a spinning top is an example of precession. Precession in general relativity is a weak effect that is not noticeable. It took over 75 years for the space to get back to normal. 10 billion times stronger than before, the black-hole binary in this study precesses several times every second.
It's difficult to identify the effect. The most sensitive measurement apparatus in history is needed to detect giltational waves. We had to do a careful analysis to uncover the weakness of the precession.
Einstein predicted a wave in 1916. The Advanced LIGO instruments were the first to detect the merger of two black holes, and they were the first to win a prize. One of the most vibrant fields of science is giltational wave astronomy, with a network of detectors in the US, Europe and Japan. There have been over 80 detections of merging black holes.
Most of the black holes we've found have been spinning slowly, according to Dr. Charlie Hoy, a researcher at the University of Pompey. The black hole was spinning almost as fast as it could. The current models suggest that this one was very rare. It might be a sign that our models need to change.
The next search of the universe is expected to start in 2023. They are likely to find hundreds more black holes colliding, and will tell scientists if the universe is even stranger than they thought.
More information: Mark Hannam, General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05212-z Journal information: Nature
All Rights Reserved © 2024
