admin Hypothetical physicists have found a modern space-time structure called a “topological soliton.” Taking after dark gaps to removed spectators, these structures are really surrenders within the universe’s texture, missing an occasion skyline. This finding seem possibly offer assistance approve string hypothesis, in spite of the fact that it remains dubious as of presently.
A team of theoretical physicists has discovered a strange structure in spacetime. It looks like a black hole to an outsider, but upon closer inspection it’s quite different.
They will be defects in the very fabric of the universe.
Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicted the existence of black holes that form when massive stars collapse. But the same theory predicts that their centers are singularities, i.e. points of infinite density. We know that there cannot be infinite density in the universe, so we take this as an indication that Einstein’s theory is incomplete. But even though the quest for expansion has lasted nearly a century, no better theory of gravity has yet been confirmed.
But there are candidates involving string theory. In superstring theory, every particle in the universe is actually a loop of finely vibrating strings. To support the wide variety of particles and forces we observe in the universe, these strings cannot vibrate only within his three-dimensional space. Instead, there must be additional spatial dimensions that form manifolds small enough to escape from everyday attention and experimentation.
This exotic structure of spacetime has provided the researchers with the tools they need to identify a new class of objects called topological solitons. Their analysis found these topological solitons to be stable defects in spacetime itself. They do not require matter or other forces to exist – they are as natural to the fabric of space-time as cracks in ice.
Researchers studied these solitons by studying the behavior of light passing near them. Because they are extreme space-time objects, they distort space and time around them, affecting the path of light. To a distant observer, these solitons would appear exactly as we predicted black holes would appear. There will be shadows, circles of light, works. Images from the Event Horizon Telescope and detected gravitational wave signatures all behave similarly.
It’s only when you get closer that you realize it’s not a black hole. One of the main features of a black hole is its event horizon, an imaginary plane beyond which escape is impossible. Topological solitons are not singularities and therefore do not have event horizons. So in principle you could walk up to the soliton and hold it, assuming you survived the encounter.
These topological solitons are incredible hypothetical objects based on our understanding of string theory, and have yet to prove useful state-of-the-art in our understanding of physics. However, these rare objects serve as important test studies. If researchers can find important observational differences between topological solitons and conventional black holes, it could pave the way for testing string theory itself.
Adapted from an article originally published on Universe Today.
