By merging, the black holes are propelled at high speeds

Merger … Impulse! Researchers have confirmed by indirect observation a behavior that has hitherto been theoretical for black holes The broader structure of general relativity : When these two objects combine, they gain momentum strong enough to push the newly formed black hole into space.

A team of researchers led by Vijay Verma of Germany and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics have meticulously observed data from the laboratory and discovered a fast-moving 60-Sun mass black hole.Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Monitor) In the United States, and in Italy its counterpart, the Virgin. Thanks to the signal associated with these space-time ripples reaching Earth on January 29, 2020, the team was able to reverse the course of events: by merging, the two black holes received a “kick”, which threw a new black hole. High speed.

Mac 4000

The latter flew at a speed of about 5 million kilometers per hour, within a few million, as we can read in the article describing the discovery. Physical Review Letters. “1,500 km / h is 0.5% of the speed of light, which is 60 times faster than the Sun’s black hole.”Comments Vijay Verma, Contact Science and the future. “We can see things differently: it’s moving at about 5 million km faster than the Mac 4000! A ball, on the other hand, is moving at about 3,000 km / h. So the black hole is a thousand times faster.”

When two pairs of black holes rotate inwards and merge, they emit these ripples, which stretch and contract in space. When these gravitational waves are shot into the universe in a certain direction, the black hole ends up reacting by retreating, just like a bullet fired after a bullet. To estimate the regression velocity of the said black hole, the researchers compared the collected data with various predictions about black hole connections. In short, for computer simulations that solve the equations of the theory of gravity devised by Einstein. They found that the black hole may have been ejected from its center. “If we assume that this black hole is fused into a global cluster, it is certainly removed from its original environment.”Vijay Verma promises.

Driven … then isolated?

Dense clusters of stars and black holes – Scientists believe that galaxies are the primary sites for the fusion of black holes, the same locations as the fused black hole observed by the group. They also calculated that the probability of an ejected black hole being in a globular cluster was only about 0.5%, with the chance that a black hole would stick to another type of dense environment, i.e. star cluster atoms, only 8%. Around “However, other environments, such as disks surrounding active galaxies, have also been proposed as sites for recombination, and it should be taken into account that these environments may have higher escape velocities.”The astronomical physicist mentions.

The fact that black holes travel so far during their fusion is important for understanding how they formed Other very intriguing black holes. And for good reason: if we follow the simulations of supernovae, there should be no star black holes with mass greater than 65 solar masses. However, LIGO-Virgo has already seen this. “One explanation is that these heavier black holes may have formed from star-mass black holes already connected.. But if such ‘kicks’ are common, the final black hole will be ejected from the first link and will not be able to participate in the second link. “ Vijay Verma mentions. “Only estimating the frequency of these kicks from high gravitational wave signals will help solve this mystery.”

Repeated general relativity test

These “kicks” are one of the clearest predictions of general relativity ever made. Conversely, if the observations do not match the theory, the standard model may be called into question. Such observations should be refined with the forthcoming authority of LISA (Laser interferometer space antenna), Low-frequency gravitational wave detection from space, which particularly observes connections Larger black holes. Therefore, the data collected by LISA will help to understand how gigantic black holes were planted in the ancient universe and, above all, how they can reach their current size.

Note that data from LIGO and Virgo have already revealed symptoms of small bumps obtained by black holes. Nevertheless, this study was the first to talk about gravitational waves, which were only predicted.