Although its appearance resembles that of a black hole and it has the ability to alter the path of light like a black hole, this celestial object might, in fact, be a novel kind of star.
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| Illustration of a blackhole (Image by Alexander Antropov from Pixabay) |
Although this object is currently only a hypothetical mathematical construction, recent simulations by researchers at Johns Hopkins University suggest that there could be other celestial bodies in space that are difficult to detect even with the best telescopes on Earth.
The object, called a topological soliton, looks like a black hole from a distance but behaves differently when examined closely. It distorts space in the same way as a black hole, but weak light rays can escape its gravitational force, which would not be possible with a true black hole.
The discovery of gravitational waves in 2015 confirmed the existence of black holes, and the Johns Hopkins team was inspired to explore the possibility of other objects that could produce similar gravitational effects. The simulations they conducted suggest that there could be other types of celestial bodies hiding in space, and studying hypothetical objects like topological solitons may help scientists better understand how to identify them. The team's findings are set to be published in Physical Review D.
According to Heidmann, the light is not absorbed like it would be in a black hole, but rather strongly bent and scattered in unusual ways until it eventually returns to the observer in a chaotic manner. Instead of seeing a dark spot, the observer sees a blurred image, indicating that the light is moving in erratic orbits around this strange object.
The intense gravitational field of a black hole can cause light to orbit around it at a certain distance, known as the event horizon. Scientists from Hopkins University simulated several scenarios, placing a black hole and a topological soliton in front of a camera lens, which produced distorted images due to the gravitational effects of these massive bodies.
The researchers discovered ways to construct topological solitons using Einstein's theory of general relativity based on results from string theory, and these solitons serve as models of what new quantum gravity objects could look like compared to black holes.
The research accounts for fundamental theories of the universe and reconciles quantum mechanics with Einstein's theory of gravity using string theory. The team hopes to propose new types of ultracompact stars in the future consisting of new kinds of matter from quantum gravity.
Reference:
Pierre Heidmann, et. al, Imaging topological solitons: The microstructure behind the shadow, Phys. Rev. D, DOI: Link