Black holes have the ability to die, but this process happens very slowly and in a rather normal manner.
Despite appearing empty, space is not entirely devoid of mass or energy. Within this space, there exist “quantum fields” that give definition to mass and energy. These fields do not necessarily have zero energy, allowing for the creation of pairs of “virtual particles” (typically particle and antiparticle pairs) that quickly eliminate each other.
Another common explanation is that near a black hole, one of these particles may vanish inside the black hole while the other escapes as “Hawking radiation.”
In order to maintain the total energy of a black hole, incoming particles must possess “negative energy” (hence “negative mass”) while escaping particles must have positive energy.
Hawking radiation is a result of gravity’s impact on space-time. Quantum fields within empty space adhere to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, limiting our understanding of the energy of a quantum field or the duration for which we can attribute a specific energy to it.
Since gravitational fields influence the curvature of space-time and the flow of time in a given area, regions of space-time with varying gravitational curvatures struggle to agree on the energy of the quantum field.
The variance in vacuum energy within different points of a black hole’s gravitational field creates what are known as “virtual particles.”
As positive energy escapes from a black hole, the mass and energy of the black hole gradually diminish, causing a black hole that is not actively attracting new material to gradually shrink and ultimately vanish.
However, this process occurs over massive time scales. For instance, a black hole with the mass of the sun would take 1064 years to evaporate, far surpassing the age of the universe at 10 years old.
This article endeavors to answer Catrin Phelps of Winchester’s question, “Can black holes ever die?”
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
