A black hole is a mysterious and fascinating celestial body, like a monster in the universe, devouring everything close to it. According to scientists, the huge gravitational field of black holes will distort and deform the surrounding space and time, and even affect the movement of light.
There are many reasons for the formation of black holes, the most commonly recognized of which is the collapse of stars to form black holes. In the final phase of a star's life cycle, nuclear reactions deplete most of the nuclear fuel, causing the star to collapse due to its inability to maintain gravitational balance. If the star is massive enough, it will collapse to a state of extreme compression, forming a black hole.
The size of a black hole is usually measured by the radius of the "event horizon" it possesses. With the help of the concept of black hole radius, we can understand that the light and other particles emitted by black holes cannot escape the constraints of the black hole's huge gravitational field.
In addition to black holes formed by star collapse, scientists have also discovered another special kind of black hole - primordial black holes. The mechanism by which primordial black holes formed remains a mystery, and theoretically they formed during the Big Bang. At that time, the density of matter in the universe was very high, and material in certain regions continued to accumulate and collapse to form such supermassive black holes.
The curvature of space-time and gravity
Through the development of modern science, the scientific community basically agrees that the essence of gravity is the theory of space-time curvature, but have you ever wondered why Newton's theory of gravity is still widely used in our daily life?
There is no doubt that the purpose of science is to understand natural phenomena and find ways to describe their movements. Therefore, any theory or method must be simple and accurate enough and tested in experimental tests to be part of science.
Although general relativity treats gravity as a curvature of space-time, Newton's theory of universal gravity is still very accurate in the region of low speeds and low gravitational fields. It's like saying that whether you ride a bike or a rocket, the ruler is just as accurate, but the scope of application is different.
In short, Newton's theory of gravity is only a special case of general relativity, which applies to simple calculations and experiments in some cases. General relativity is more accurate, covering conditions such as high energy, high speed, extreme gravity, etc., which Newton's theory cannot handle.
Conciseness and accuracy are equally important in science. Although general relativity is more precise, it needs to deal with more complex equations. Newton's theory can use simple formulas to solve problems in low-velocity, low-energy fields.
Black holes devour gravitational waves produced by neutron stars
So back to the topic of our article, scientists have for the first time obtained clear evidence through a new study confirming that the collision of black holes and neutron stars is real. According to the results, a black hole swallowed a neutron star, and the gravitational waves produced by this process arrived on Earth 1 billion years later, further validating Einstein's final prediction.
The theory of star collapse holds that black holes are celestial objects with extremely strong gravitational fields, and their gravity is enough to stop light from escaping. It is formed by massive stars dying and collapsing on their own. Similarly, neutron stars are formed by massive stars that run out of core fuel and explode supernovae. In this process, the originally scattered neutrons are compressed together to form a neutron star.
So what are gravitational waves? Gravitational waves are an astronomical phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity, which is a curvature in space caused by the movement of heavy objects, which propagates around and drives other objects together. Gravitational waves are like a ripple that spreads throughout the universe. When black holes and neutron stars collide, their motion generates gravitational waves that are detected after propagating to Earth.
Einstein's theory of relativity states that heavy objects cause the curvature of space and the distortion of time. When gravitational waves pass through bent space, their paths are distorted, which means that Einstein's final prediction was that gravitational waves could be detected. Modern science and technology have been able to accurately detect these weak gravitational wave signals to verify Einstein's theoretical predictions.
What are gravitational waves?
A gravitational wave is a wave of matter that is created as a result of ripples in the curvature of space-time and appears as a wave in morphology. Unlike electromagnetic waves, gravitational waves can penetrate places where electromagnetic waves cannot.
The discovery of gravitational waves provides us with a whole new means of probing the mysteries of the universe. For example, it could help us gain a deeper understanding of the motion of black holes and other exotic objects. These objects are often not able to be observed by traditional telescopes, but gravitational waves can "glimpse" their existence.
The birth of gravitational wave astronomy will provide us with more comprehensive and accurate cosmic observation information. Especially for the detection of the early universe, gravitational waves can provide us with an unprecedented pathway, because the state of the universe cannot be observed through electromagnetic waves before the remerger of the universe, and gravitational wave astronomy provides us with a welcome solution.
Einstein's speculation
Einstein once put forward a strange conjecture: the universe is a huge film, and the greater the mass of the celestial body, the more likely it is to bend this film. Due to the huge gravitational pull between celestial bodies, relatively small bodies orbit large objects. This gravitational effect is achieved through "gravitational waves".
Einstein believed that there is also an extremely mysterious object in the universe - black holes. Black holes have a strong gravitational pull, can absorb all matter, even light can not escape. Similarly, neutron stars are extremely powerful objects, with very high densities, averaging about 1 billion tons per cubic centimeter. Although the gravitational pull of neutron stars is very strong, it is still not as strong as black holes.
But at the time, scientists didn't pay much attention to Einstein's conjecture. Most people believe that there is no such terrible celestial body in the universe. Today we know that black holes and neutron stars are real, and their strong gravitational pull is capable of producing gravitational waves that propagate through space. These facts greatly prove Einstein's theoretical predictions.
Einstein's explanation of gravity
In 1915, the great scientist Einstein proposed the theory of general relativity about gravity. This theory completely subverted our ancient understanding of gravity and allowed us to take an important step in the understanding of the physical world.
According to general relativity, the gravitational phenomena we see are actually caused by changes in the structure of space-time. In our view, space is a static and unchanging existence, but in reality, space is dynamic, and its structure changes as surrounding objects change. This change will cause the object to move in curved space-time, creating the gravitational phenomenon we observe.
Einstein described gravity as a geometric effect, and we can calculate the magnitude of gravity by measuring the curvature of space. The greater the curvature of space, the stronger the gravitational pull exhibited, and vice versa.
The introduction of general relativity has given us a new understanding of gravity and expanded the field of research in physics. We now have a deeper understanding of the mysteries of nature and can more accurately predict and explain phenomena.
Once again, general relativity has stood the test
Einstein proposed the general theory of relativity in 1915, which describes the relationship between gravity and space-time and has become one of the most important theories in modern physics. Since its inception, general relativity has been tested many times, with most of the evidence being between the millimeter scale and the solar system scale. However, the recently discovered gravitational waves come from the extreme gravitational fields of neutron stars, filling a gap in the field of research.
This research results have pushed our understanding of gravitational fields to a new level. Because neutron stars have a gravitational field more powerful than anything in the solar system, the results are also hailed as filling a huge gap and providing unprecedented support for general relativity.
In addition, because gravitational waves are generated by neutron star mergers, this also gives us a new way to explore the evolution of stars in the universe, which has previously been uncharted territory. The discovery also provides useful information for our better understanding of the formation and evolution of bizarre objects such as black holes and neutron stars.
Overall, this achievement is of great significance for the development of modern astronomy and physics. It not only provides us with a fine verification of general relativity, but also opens up a new research direction for astronomers and promotes human understanding of the universe. As a result, many people interested in cosmology will lament: "It is probably getting harder and harder to prove that Einstein is wrong." ”