Gravitational wave detectors recorded a collision of an unrivaled magnitude. This discovery questions our current models on the formation of black holes.
A black hole of 225 solar masses: an absolute record which redefines cosmic genesis
It is a monumental discovery. Collaboration researchers Ligo Virgo-Kagra have identified a signal called GW231123issued by a fusion between two black holes. The resulting object reaches an estimated mass to 225 times that of the sunspraying the previous records.
Until now, the largest objects identified via the gravitational waves remained well below. In 2015, Ligo revealed a merger leading to a black hole in 62 Solar masseswhile the previous record, GW190521capped at 140 solar masses.
But GW231123 changes the game. The two black holes at the origin of this collision seem themselves to be the fruit of previous mergers. It would therefore not be simple stellar black holes from the collapse of massive stars, but Second generation black holesformed from successive mergers. This phenomenon suggests that these cosmic objects could evolve in cascade, within stars dense heaps.
This scenario obliges astrophysicists to review their models of stellar and galactic evolution. He also raises new hypotheses: in what regions of the universe are these chain mergers possible? And how far can this growth go?
A vertiginous speed of rotation that puts Einstein’s theory to the test
But that’s not all. These giants not only beat mass records, they also run to a vertiginous rotation speed (or spin). Their movement approaches physical limits set by general relativity.
This rotation goes beyond the current analytical capacities. The theoretical models only provide for such intensity under extreme conditions. The researchers are struggling to explain the origin of such a spin, especially if these black holes are the fruit of multiple mergers.
As indicated Gregorio Carullo of the University of Birmingham, it will probably be necessary Years of cross analyzes To decode this signal. He specifies that certain recorded behaviors cannot yet be reproduced in the laboratory or precisely modeled, which pushes gravitational physics to its limits.
This anomaly also questions our knowledge of the conservation of the angular moment during mergers. What would even faster objects look like? Can we reach a point where relativity itself would give in under the pressure of these masses in rotation?
An open database to explore this collective enigma
Faced with the magnitude of this discovery, the scientists decided to play the opening card. All signal data GW231123 are now accessible via the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center.
This initiative allows the global scientific community to seize the subject. Physicists, mathematicians, engineers can thus cross their models, share their tools and refine the collective interpretation of this extraordinary merger.
Beyond the event, this transparency illustrates a new way of doing science: collaborative, distributed and accelerated. The universe has just launched an unprecedented challenge, and it is together that we can, perhaps, take it up.