Primordial black holes — are a hypothetical type of black hole that formed during the inhomogeneous, high-density phase of the Big Bang. And if they really exist, then, according to a new study, they can «peer» into our solar system with a frequency of once every 10 years.
According to the analysis provided by scientists in the journal Physical Review DSuch a black hole would create tiny gravitational distortions that could be used to identify it. Again, these potential findings could help scientists unravel the mystery of the dark matter — an invisible and equally hypothetical component, which probably makes up about 86% of all matter in space. Researchers are currently drawing some conclusions about the existence of dark matter, given its gravitational influence on visible components and light, but it is not known what exactly it might consist of.
But let’s get back to black holes: over the decades, many of them have been discovered — from «ordinary», whose mass is 5-10 times that of the Sun, to supermassive with millions to billions of solar masses. Whereas primary black holes are a separate type, which scientists suggest may have the mass of a typical asteroid (i.e., 110 to 110 million billion tons).
Previous studies have shown that the primary black holes that have survived to this day may comprise most or all of the dark matter. Based on this work, scientists decided to determine the paths of such black holes and, in particular, the time of their potential visit to the solar system.
«If there are many black holes out there, then some of them are bound to pass through the solar system from time to time,» says study co-author Sarah Heller, a theoretical physicist at the University of California.
Initially, scientists set out to determine what would happen if a black hole pierced the Earth’s atmosphere or crust, or left a crater on the Moon, and even more so if «rammed into», for example, a human being. But each of these assumptions was rejected, because in this case even the Earth itself would be an extremely small target for the «intruder» and the probability of a collision with — is very low.
«Instead, we needed a system large enough that black holes could pass through regularly so that we could measure some effect», — says Heller. «Then we started thinking about the solar system».
In the end, the researchers found that at least one primary black hole could fly through the solar system (particularly near Mercury, Mars, Venus, or Earth) at least once a decade. And perhaps such «visits» have already happened.
At the same time, Heller was careful to add that the «team is not claiming that primordial black holes definitely exist, make up most or all of dark matter, or are definitely here in our solar system». The conclusions themselves are based on relatively simple computer modeling, which does not have the necessary precision to analyze real data on the inner orbits of our star system.
«To make definitive statements, we need to work with colleagues who specialize in modeling the solar system using much more sophisticated computational methods,» adds study co-author Benjamin Lehmann, a theoretical physicist at MIT.
The team plans to collaborate with the Solar System Modeling Group at the Paris Observatory — leading experts in sophisticated modeling techniques.
Source: Space.com
