How were supermassive black holes formed? What is dark matter? In 1974, Stephen Hawking and his doctoral student Bernard Carr proposed that primordial black holes, hypothetical black holes that existed shortly after the Big Bang, could be elusive dark matter (first theorized in 1933).
Now, in an alternative model of how the early universe came to be , compared to the history of the universe as we mostly know it, a team of astronomers proposes that these two cosmic mysteries could be explained by so-called “primordial black holes. “.
The new model shows that the first stars and galaxies would have formed around black holes, which had the ability to become supermassive black holes by feasting on gas and stars in their neighborhood or merging with other black holes. Thus, all dark matter could be explained, according to Priyamvada Natarajan, co-author of the work.
“Primordial black holes, if they exist, could well be the seeds from which all supermassive black holes are formed, including the one in the center of the Milky Way,” explains the expert.
“Unraveling the mystery of primordial black holes would also solve another cosmic puzzle that has puzzled scientists: the large amount of radiation that has been detected from faint, distant sources scattered throughout the universe,” continues Natarajan.
According to the study, growing primordial black holes would have “exactly” the same radiation signature.
We’ll find out when the James Webb Space Telescope, due to launch on December 24, goes live, as well as with ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission announced for the 2030s.
Referencia: Nico Cappelluti et al, Exploring the high-redshift PBH-ΛCDM Universe: early black hole seeding, the first stars and cosmic radiation backgrounds. arXiv:2109.08701v1 [astro-ph.CO], arxiv.org/abs/2109.08701
