Study Suggests Black Holes May Enter Metastable Phase Resembling White Holes
A new study published on arXiv challenges the traditional understanding of black hole evaporation, suggesting they may enter a metastable stage that mimics white holes. While general relativity implies black holes are eternal, quantum mechanics introduces Hawking radiation, causing them to lose mass and eventually evaporate. However, Stephen Hawking’s original semi-classical calculations break down for small masses, such as hypothetical primordial black holes. The recent research calculates a robust minimum lifetime for black holes, proposing a three-phase evolution: standard Hawking radiation, a transition phase, and an entanglement phase. In this final stage, depending on quantum gravity effects, the redshift factor of radiation could become negative. This would make the black hole appear to push material away, behaving like a theoretical white hole. If primordial black holes exist, they might have undergone a billion-year radiation phase before entering this metastable state. Although a complete theory of quantum gravity is required for confirmation, the findings indicate that astronomers should not rule out the existence of white hole-like objects in the universe.
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Study Suggests Black Holes May Enter Metastable Phase Resembling White Holes
A new study published on arXiv challenges the traditional understanding of black hole evaporation, suggesting they may enter a metastable stage that mimics white holes. While general relativity implies black holes are eternal, quantum mechanics introduces Hawking radiation, causing them to lose mass and eventually evaporate. However, Stephen Hawking’s original semi-classical calculations break down for small masses, such as hypothetical primordial black holes. The recent research calculates a robust minimum lifetime for black holes, proposing a three-phase evolution: standard Hawking radiation, a transition phase, and an entanglement phase. In this final stage, depending on quantum gravity effects, the redshift factor of radiation could become negative. This would make the black hole appear to push material away, behaving like a theoretical white hole. If primordial black holes exist, they might have undergone a billion-year radiation phase before entering this metastable state. Although a complete theory of quantum gravity is required for confirmation, the findings indicate that astronomers should not rule out the existence of white hole-like objects in the universe.
Universe Today