For decades, scientists have been delving into the complex mysteries of physics: Could the vast amounts of energy theoretically extracted by turning black holes ever being tapped by human hands?
If future societies could somehow remove it, the power supply of diseased civilizations would surely be far off – and now scientists have a new explanation of how one day take out.
“Black holes are usually surrounded by a hot‘ broth ’of plasma granules carrying a magnetic field,” explained astrophysicist Luca Comisso from Columbia University.
“Our theory shows that, when magnetic field lines disconnect and reconnect, just in the right way, they can accelerate plasma particles to negative energy and a lot of black hole energy can be absorbed. -mach. “
Comisso’s new work – co-authored with physicist Felipe A. Asenjo from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile – provides a new prism for seeing how energy could be extracted from a spinning black hole. .
Given their size, it is only natural to assume that black holes contain a lot of energy. Unfortunately it is all locked away at the bottom of a space-time slippery crater.
Under conditions where that mass rotates, it may be possible to immerse a thumb into this large energy pool while space-time slopes are slowed down.
Oxford University physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose suggests one ingenious approach. In what is known as the Penrose process, energy could be extracted from the area outside the horizon of a black hole event, called an ergosphere, in which space-time twists around from effects of black hole rotation.
Penrose’s calculations suggested that separation was divided into two parts within the ergosphere, with one piece falling into the horizon of the event and the other escaping the gravitational pull of the black hole, energy would get the object to escape theoretically, if it is impossible.
This famous idea has been experimentally proven by scientists in a paper published just a few months ago, but it is not the only method proposed for spinning black hole energy.
Hawking radiation, based on quantum mechanical emissions, is another method known as the Blandford-Znajek process, in which energy can be emitted electromagnetically through the surrounding magnetic field. black hole.
In Comisso and Asenjo ‘s study, magnetism also plays a key role – in particular, as magnetic field lines break and return within the ergosphere – but it also reiterates some of the thinking. on the Penrose process.
As magnetic reconnections occur outside the horizon of the event – scattering accelerated plasma particles at a speed approaching the speed of light in two different directions – one plasma flow may collapse. to the horizon of the event, with the other fleeing.
From the point of view of the black hole, negative energy would fall from the falling piece. From the outside of the black hole, the removed glass would have a positive energy that could work.
In this way, the escape of plasma energy streams with a top-up theoretically could be an almost infinite source of free energy, while the black hole maintains a negative energy plasma absorption, i.e.
“We have calculated that a plasma energy process can reach an efficiency of 150 percent, much higher than any power plant operating on Earth,” Asenjo explains.
“It is possible to achieve an efficiency greater than 100 percent because black holes emit energy, which is freely given to the plasma escaping from the black hole.”
While it may not seem like we could be able to somehow take advantage of this energy generation in a practical sense, that does not mean that it is completely useless.
From a celestial point of view, the phenomenon could be the powers of black hole flames – representing massive emission of radiation energy going unnoticed into space.
“Unlike the Blandford-Znajek process, in which rotational energy is extracted only by an electromagnetic device, the energy extraction equipment described here requires non-zero inertia. , “the authors write.
“This equipment is also different from the original Penrose process, in that magnetic energy dissipation is required to produce the negative energy particles. Clearly, all machines emit rotational energy. black hole by feeding the black hole with negative energy and square momentum. “
The results are reported in Corporate Review D..