The Big Bang may have been an explosive rebound from a collapsing black hole.
According to a new study led by Enrique Gastagnaga at the University of Portsmouth, this paper posits that the Big Bang was actually a “big bounce,” triggered when matter fell into a massive, compressed black hole, leading to a rebound and subsequent expansion that formed the universe.
“In essence, our entire observable universe could exist within a black hole in a larger universe,” Gastagnaga stated. BBC Science Focus.
I was trapped in event horizon
A recently published study in Physical Review D re-evaluated the fate of a dense, large gas cloud collapsing under its own gravity.
Instead of leading to an infinitely dense point known as a singularity, this research suggests that the collapse halts at a certain point before bouncing back.
This rebound initiates a rapid expansion akin to what cosmologists theorize occurred post-Big Bang. In a way, our reality might be trapped at the event horizon of a black hole.
The “black hole universe model” offers insights into key issues concerning the current mainstream understanding of cosmology known as the standard model.
The standard model necessitates a period of inflation, suggesting the entire cosmos expanded rapidly just moments after the Big Bang. It also involves “dark energy,” the elusive material responsible for the universe’s expansion.
“However, we lack a true understanding of these components,” Gastagnaga noted. “Conversely, both phases of rapid expansion arise naturally in the black hole universe model, attributed to its bounce geometry and dynamics.
“One compelling aspect of this model is its simplicity. It relies solely on gravity and quantum mechanics to elucidate the expansion, inflation, and dark energy of the universe without requiring additional assumptions or unknown elements.”
The black hole universe model does face its own distinct challenges. For instance, dark matter remains poorly understood. We recognize the presence of this invisible material throughout the universe, holding galaxies together, yet astronomers struggle to identify its nature.
“Certain forms of dark matter could be linked to remnants from our universe’s collapse phase, but further exploration of this idea is necessary,” Gastagnaga revealed.
If the universe originated in a black hole, we could still exist within one. Some of the black holes we observe might represent mini cosmos, each with their own miniature black holes.
“This can be envisioned as a nested structure—one black hole within another, akin to Russian nesting dolls,” Gastagnaga explained.
However, not every one of the trillion black holes in our universe necessarily contains its own miniature cosmos, as the size of the black holes influences the time available for small structures to form.
“Large black holes (like ours) allow for the development of galaxies, stars, and planets, while smaller ones may evolve too rapidly for anything noteworthy to occur,” Gastagnaga stated.
“This is crucial because gravitational collapse predicts the existence of significantly smaller black holes than the large ones. The fact that we reside within one of the rare, very large cases might not simply be a coincidence.
The concept of a black hole universe emerged when Gastagnaga and his team adopted a new perspective on the origins of our universe.
“Rather than assuming the universe began with an inexplicable ‘bang’, we reversed our approach, starting with matter collapsing into a black hole,” he detailed.
It all revolves around the principle of quantum exclusion principle. In brief, this principle asserts that two identical particles cannot occupy the same space at once.
Thus, there exists a limit to how densely particles can be arranged before compaction becomes untenable according to the quantum exclusion principle.
This limitation is one reason why stars like white dwarfs do not simply collapse under their own weight.
“The exclusion principle is also applicable to some black holes,” Gastagnaga explained. “It halts material from collapsing into a singular point by slowing the process, stopping it at high density, causing a bounce, and entirely avoiding singularity.”
Relic black hole
The theory that the universe began with the Big Bang is sound in theory, but cosmologists cannot confirm its validity until it undergoes testing.
Fortunately, this theory generates specific predictions regarding the appearance of our universe, allowing astronomers to assess its validity.
“We predict that the universe is slightly curved; it behaves like a sphere but isn’t perfectly flat,” Gastagnaga explained.
Most efforts to measure the universe’s curvature have indicated it is flat, but there may exist subtle bends that current methods are not sensitive enough to detect. Hence, the European Space Agency’s Euclidean spacecraft is engaged in the most precise measurements of cosmic curvature to date, with completion expected by 2030.
“It also predicts the presence of Relic black holes and Relic neutron stars—objects that survived the bounce and formed during the collapse stages, which may still exist today,” Gastagnaga added.
These relics could have shaped the evolution of galaxies and stars over time. There is potential to identify the signatures of these artifacts in our current observations of the universe, revealing whether they reside within black holes.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
