- Scientists link 2023’s high-energy neutrino to exploding quasi-extremal primordial black holes
- Primordial black holes formed soon after the Big Bang and are smaller than stellar black holes
- These black holes lose mass via Hawking radiation, getting hotter and eventually exploding
Scientists may have found a new explanation for a powerful space particle that hit Earth in 2023. Researchers now say that the explosion of a special kind of black hole could be the source of this mysterious signal and could also help explain more about dark matter, reported Newsweek.
In 2023, a neutrino struck Earth with extremely high energy. A neutrino is a subatomic particle with almost no mass and traveling at nearly the speed of light. This neutrino's energy was nearly a million times greater than the most energetic particle ever created at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator.
Now, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst believe this neutrino may have been produced by the explosion of a special and rare type of black hole called a quasi-extremal primordial black hole.
What Are Primordial Black Holes?
Primordial black holes are believed to have formed in the early stages of the universe, shortly after the Big Bang. They are much smaller and lighter than black holes formed by the collapse or collapse of stars.
According to scientists, these black holes gradually lose mass over time due to a process called Hawking radiation. As their mass decreases, they become hotter and eventually explode, releasing a tremendous amount of energy.
Andrea Tham, co-author of the study and assistant professor of physics at UMass Amherst, explained that the lighter black holes are, the hotter they are and the more particles they eject. As these black holes evaporate, they become lighter and hotter. This causes them to emit more radiation and eventually explode. This is Hawking radiation, which telescopes can detect.
The UMass research team suggests that such black hole explosions may occur more frequently than previously thought, perhaps about once every ten years.
The researchers also noted that existing instruments, such as the Cubic Kilometer Neutrino Telescope, called KM3Net, which is installed deep in the Mediterranean Sea, are capable of detecting these events.
Scientists believe that studying these explosions can help understand where such powerful neutrinos came from and can also provide new information in understanding the mystery of dark matter.
