Bizarre Hawking Radiation Observed in Black Hole Morsels [Study]

Bizarre Hawking Radiation Observed In Black Hole Morsels [Study]
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NASA/Ames Research Center/C. Henze)

Hawking Radiation was rarely seen, but researchers have observed it in the remains of black holes.

Mysterious Hawking Radiation Observed In Black Hole Morsels

Black holes evaporate after a long period, like other cosmic bodies, due to Hawking Radiation. Stephen Hawking developed the theory in the 1970s, and it was named after him.

Researchers had a hard time finding the Hawking Radiation. However, in the new study titled "Measuring Hawking Radiation from Black Hole Morsels in Astrophysical Black Hole Mergers," three European researchers documented finding it in the small remains of black holes.

Although long anticipated, black hole mergers have never been seen. According to theory, strong gravitational waves should be released from these collisions. Eventually, the LIGO observatory discovered the first merger in 2015.

Scientists have since found many of these. The researchers claim these mergers provide a glimpse into Hawking Radiation (HR).

Black holes that combine can produce so-called "morsel" black holes that are thrown into space and the size of asteroids. Their HR should be noticeable due to their small size. These tiny BHs emit high-energy photons, or the Hawking Radiation (HR), with a specific "fingerprint" in gamma rays.

The researchers investigated the observable fallout from producing a high number of little BH morsels during a cataclysmic event like the merger of two astrophysical BHs. They demonstrated that these BH morsels produce Hawking Radiation, producing gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a unique signature.

When black hole morsels evaporate, they release particles in a spherically symmetrical pattern. The HR particles should reach us, provided that their perspective is not obscured by the larger merged BH. The bursts release photon energy greater than one trillion electron volts (TeV).

According to the researchers, the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray observatory and other atmospheric Cherenkov observatories can detect the energy level of the gamma-ray bursts from these black holes. The photon spectrum observed by HAWC spans from 100 GeV to 100 TeV.

According to the authors, these tiny BHs will release their most energy near the moment of evaporation. However, the Hawking Radiation of individual BHs may be impacted when they emit in the strong gravitational environment of a BH merger.

The same holds true if the morsels are released at relativistic speeds. Those two factors could alter their spectra before they reach our detectors.

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What Is Hawking Radiation?

Hawking Radiation explains hypothetical particles created by the edge of a black hole. This emission implies that the temperatures of black holes are inversely related to their masses. Stated differently, a black hole should glow hotter the smaller it is.

Hawking Radiation is a prediction supported by coupled general relativity and quantum mechanics models, albeit it has never been directly observed. It bears the name of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who released a paper titled "Black hole explosions? arguing for their existence" in 1974.