Despite their name, black holes are far from a space in the abyss. These regions of spacetime have mesmerized astronomers for decades because their gravity is so strong that not even light can escape.
Black holes are usually considered inescapable, and something humans should avoid. However, a recent study suggests two ways in which these condensed areas of space can be used in the future as an energy source. Led by Zhan Feng Mai from the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astronomy at Peking University, a team of researchers predicted the processes for extracting energy from these cosmic voids using their rotational and gravitational properties.
Energy from Charged Particles
In the first theoretical scenario, the black holes would be charged by injecting them with massive, electrically charged particles. These charges would be sucked in continuously until the abyss itself had an electric field that began repelling any additional costs that they would attempt to inject.
As soon as this electromagnetic repulsion becomes more significant than the gravitational pull of the black hole, then the void will be considered "fully charged." To keep with Einstein's theory of general relativity, the available energy of the black hole would come from a combination of the electrical charges injected into it and the mass of those electrical charges. In other words, the black hole battery will transform the energy of the particle's mass into charge energy.
The efficiency of the recharging process was calculated to be 25%, which means that black hole batteries could convert about a quarter of the inputted mass into available energy in the form of an electric field. According to the research team, this will make the efficiency of the black hole battery around 250 times higher than that of an atomic bomb. To extract the energy produced, the scientists will utilize superradiance. This method is based on the concept that space-time is dragged around the rotation of a spinning black hole due to its intense gravitational field.
Electromagnetic or gravitational waves that entered the region of rotation would also be dragged along. Assuming they had not yet passed the event horizon, some waves could be deflected with more energy than they initially carried. Such a process will convert the black hole's rotational energy into deflected waves.
READ ALSO : Black Hole Twistiness? New Theory of Gravity Focuses on Energy, Mass Twists Rather Than Curvature
Energy from Paired Particles
The other proposed method involves the extraction of energy in the form of Schwinger pairs or paired particles that spontaneously form in an electric field. According to Mai, starting with a fully charged black hole, the electric field near the event horizon could be so strong that it would spontaneously form an electron and positron.
If the black hole were positively charged, the positron would be shot out from the abyss because of repulsive forces. Theoretically, this runaway particle can be collected as energy.
A black hole is usually a place where quantum mechanics and gravity must get together. By looking at them from the perspective of energy mining, experts can understand a little more about what is happening.
RELATED ARTICLE : Black Holes as Energy Sources of Advanced Civilization? Theoretical Megastructures Dyson Spheres May Catch Energy Up to 100 Million Suns
Check out more news and information on Black Hole in Science Times.
