Signs of fusion between supermassive black holes
Signs of fusion between supermassive black holes
Signs of fusion between supermassive black holes
Strong indications have been found of a large number of supermassive black hole pairs in the universe. Logic tells us that a pair formed by two black holes of this type is the necessary first step for a merger between the two. Therefore, detecting many pairs of this class supports a very accepted theory of cosmological evolution: that galaxies and their associated black holes fuse with the passage of time, forming galaxies and black holes bigger and bigger.
Specifically, the international team of Martin Krause, of the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, has examined maps of radio wave emissions in the cosmos in which powerful sources of jets of radio waves stand out. His analysis has revealed the presence of signals that are usually common when observing black holes that are orbiting each other at very close range.
Before the black holes merge, they form a pair (binary black hole), where they both orbit each other closer and closer together. Gravitational wave detectors have captured evidence of the merger of smaller black holes since 2015, measuring the strong flashes of gravitational waves that are emitted when the components of such binary black holes merge, but current technology does not serve to demonstrate the presence of supermassive binary black holes.
Supermassive black holes emit powerful jets. When two of them in a pair rotate around each other, this causes the jet emanating from the central sector of the galaxy in which they reside to change their projection direction periodically. The authors of the new study analyzed the directions to which these jets are emitted, and the variations detected in these directions; They compared the direction of the jets with one of the radio wave lobes and found that this method can be used to capture the presence of supermassive binary black holes.
The jets of binary black holes change direction continuously. The effect can explain the features visible on this 3C 334 radio-map and many powerful radio sources in the sky. The jet emanates from the nucleus of a galaxy about 10,000 million light-years away from us. The image covers 5 million light-years from left to right. The peculiar structure of the jets implies a periodic change of the direction of the jet (precession), a predicted effect for the jets of the binary black holes. The diagram in the box schematically illustrates the physical processes in the pair of black holes. The jets can form in gas discs around black holes. The direction of the jets is associated with the rotation of the black hole. The axis of rotation is shown with a red arrow. The latter changes direction periodically due to the presence of the second black hole. (Images: M. Krause / University of Hertfordshire)
The fact that the most powerful jets are associated with binary black holes could have important consequences for the formation of stars in galaxies; the stars are formed from cold gas, the jets heat this gas and this prevents star formation. A jet that always moves in the same direction only heats a limited amount of gas, all in the same sector. However, the jets of the binary black holes continuously change direction. Therefore, they can heat much more gas, inhibiting the formation of stars much more efficiently, and thus contributing to maintain in the galaxy a population of stars that does not tend to increase, or that does so little.
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