Black holes contain dark energy that accelerates the expansion of the universe and singularities are no longer needed - scientists are on the verge of a revolutionary discovery
An international team of scientists claims to have detected vacuum energy, which contributes to the expansion of the universe. And it's inside black holes.
Here's What We Know
Researchers have long known that our universe is expanding. But for decades, scientists assumed that gravitational forces were slowing the process. At the end of the twentieth century, it was discovered that the opposite was true: gravitational forces were speeding up the expansion of the Universe. The Hubble Space Telescope helped find this out.
Scientists have coined the term "dark energy" to explain what is happening. It's thought to be the reason objects are pushing away from each other. Astrophysicists have not found evidence of dark energy for decades, but in a new study, scientists have suggested it may be hiding inside black holes.
Scientists claim that the vacuum is not completely empty, as previously thought. According to them, random fluctuations generate vacuum energy, which counteracts gravitational forces and contributes to the expansion of the universe. An international team of scientists has found the proof.
Astronomers have studied the evolution of supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies over the past 9 billion years. They absorb stars and gas along with less massive black holes. Once the 'food' runs out, the growth of supermassive black holes stops.
Scientists have found that supermassive black holes, which are closer to us in space and time, are about 20 times more massive than they were 9 billion years ago. As part of the project, astronomers studied supermassive black holes in distant elliptical galaxies where dust and gas have run out. This means that the growth was triggered by another mechanism. Scientists have suggested it's vacuum energy. With it, the universe builds mass and expands. This processor is called "cosmological coupling".
Existing models suggest that everything inside black holes shrinks to a singularity point where the laws of physics do not apply. Because of this, scientists have to find workarounds to describe the models or point out that they are incomplete. If black holes really do have vacuum energy, then the singularity is no longer needed.
The new discovery could be a breakthrough in science. However, much research and observation still needs to be done to confirm it.
Source: UK Research and Innovation
