Black Holes, Gravity to the Max By Dr. Harold Williams of Montgomery College Planetarium

Black Holes Just like white dwarfs (Chandrasekhar limit: 1.4 M sun ), there is a mass limit for neutron stars: Neutron stars can not exist with masses > 3 M sun We know of no mechanism to halt the collapse of a compact object with > 3 M sun. It will collapse into a single point – a singularity: But only at the end of time relative to an outside observer. => A black hole!

Escape Velocity Velocity needed to escape Earth’s gravity from the surface: v esc ≈ 11.6 km/s. v esc Now, gravitational force decreases with distance (~ 1/d 2 ) => Starting out high above the surface => lower escape velocity. v esc If you could compress Earth to a smaller radius => higher escape velocity from the surface.

Escape Velocity Equation Newtonian gravity V es =√(2GM/R) V es, escape velocity in m/s G, Newtonian universal gravitational constant, x m 3 /(kg s 2 ) M, mass of object in kg R, radius of object in m

The Schwarzschild Radius => There is a limiting radius where the escape velocity reaches the speed of light, c: V esc = c R s = 2GM____ c2c2 R s is called the Schwarzschild radius. G = gravitational constant M = mass

General Relativity Extension of special relativity to accelerations Free-fall is the “natural” state of motion Space+time (spacetime) is warped by gravity

Black Holes John Michell, 1783: would most massive things be dark? Modern view based on general relativity Event horizon: point of no return Near BH, strong distortions of spacetime

Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon No object can travel faster than the speed of light  We have no way of finding out what’s happening inside the Schwarzschild radius. => nothing (not even light) can escape from inside the Schwarzschild radius  “Event horizon”

“Black Holes Have No Hair” Matter forming a black hole is losing almost all of its properties. black holes are completely determined by 3 quantities: mass angular momentum (electric charge) The electric charge is most likely near zero

The Gravitational Field of a Black Hole Distance from central mass Gravitational Potential The gravitational potential (and gravitational attraction force) at the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole becomes infinite.

General Relativity Effects Near Black Holes An astronaut descending down towards the event horizon of the black hole will be stretched vertically (tidal effects) and squeezed laterally unless the black hole is very large like thousands of solar masses.

General Relativity Effects Near Black Holes (II) Time dilation Event horizon Clocks starting at 12:00 at each point. After 3 hours (for an observer far away from the black hole): Clocks closer to the black hole run more slowly. Time dilation becomes infinite at the event horizon.

Observing Black Holes No light can escape a black hole => Black holes can not be observed directly. If an invisible compact object is part of a binary, we can estimate its mass from the orbital period and radial velocity. Mass > 3 M sun => Black hole!

Detecting Black Holes Problem: what goes down doesn’t come back up Need to detect effect on surrounding stuff Hot gas in accretion disks Orbiting stars Maybe gravitational lensing

Compact object with > 3 M sun must be a black hole!

Stellar-Mass Black Holes To be convincing, must show that invisible thing is more massive than NS First example: Cyg X-1 Now 17 clear cases Still a small number!

Jets of Energy from Compact Objects Some X-ray binaries show jets perpendicular to the accretion disk

Model of the X-Ray Binary SS 433 Optical spectrum shows spectral lines from material in the jet. Two sets of lines: one blue-shifted, one red-shifted Line systems shift back and forth across each other due to jet precession

Black Hole X-Ray Binaries Strong X-ray sources Rapidly, erratically variable (with flickering on time scales of less than a second) Sometimes: Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) Sometimes: Radio-emitting jets Accretion disks around black holes

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) Short (~ a few s), bright bursts of gamma-rays Later discovered with X-ray and optical afterglows lasting several hours – a few days GRB of May 10, 1999: 1 day after the GRB 2 days after the GRB Many have now been associated with host galaxies at large (cosmological) distances. Probably related to the deaths of very massive (> 25 M sun ) stars.

Black-Hole vs. Neutron-Star Binaries Black Holes: Accreted matter disappears beyond the event horizon without a trace. Neutron Stars: Accreted matter produces an X-ray flash as it impacts on the neutron star surface.

Stars at the Galactic Center

Fig , p. 301

Fig a, p. 301

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) Short (~ a few s), bright bursts of gamma-rays Later discovered with X-ray and optical afterglows lasting several hours – a few days GRB of May 10, 1999: 1 day after the GRB 2 days after the GRB Many have now been associated with host galaxies at large (cosmological) distances. Probably related to the deaths of very massive (> 25 M sun ) stars.

Black Holes and their Galaxies

Gravitational Waves Back to rubber sheet Moving objects produce ripples in spacetime Close binary BH or NS are examples Very weak!

Gravitational Wave Detectors

Numerical Relativity For colliding BH, equations can’t be solved analytically Coupled, nonlinear, second-order PDE! Even numerically, extremely challenging Major breakthroughs in Now many groups have stable, accurate codes Can compute waveforms and even kicks

Colliding BH on a Computer: From NASA/Goddard Group

What Lies Ahead Numerical relativity continues to develop Compare with post-Newtonian analyses Initial LIGO is complete and taking data Detections expected with next generation, in less than a decade In space: LISA, focusing on bigger BH Assembly of structure in early universe?

Mass – Inertial vs. Gravitational Mass has a gravitational attraction for other masses Mass has an inertial property that resists acceleration F i = m i a The value of G was chosen to make the values of m g and m i equal

Einstein’s Reasoning Concerning Mass That m g and m i were directly proportional was evidence for a basic connection between them No mechanical experiment could distinguish between the two He extended the idea to no experiment of any type could distinguish the two masses

Postulates of General Relativity All laws of nature must have the same form for observers in any frame of reference, whether accelerated or not In the vicinity of any given point, a gravitational field is equivalent to an accelerated frame of reference without a gravitational field –This is the principle of equivalence

Implications of General Relativity Gravitational mass and inertial mass are not just proportional, but completely equivalent A clock in the presence of gravity runs more slowly than one where gravity is negligible The frequencies of radiation emitted by atoms in a strong gravitational field are shifted to lower frequencies –This has been detected in the spectral lines emitted by atoms in massive stars

More Implications of General Relativity A gravitational field may be “transformed away” at any point if we choose an appropriate accelerated frame of reference – a freely falling frame Einstein specified a certain quantity, the curvature of spacetime, that describes the gravitational effect at every point

Curvature of Spacetime There is no such thing as a gravitational force –According to Einstein Instead, the presence of a mass causes a curvature of spacetime in the vicinity of the mass –This curvature dictates the path that all freely moving objects must follow

General Relativity Summary Mass one tells spacetime how to curve; curved spacetime tells mass two how to move –John Wheeler’s summary, 1979 The equation of general relativity is roughly a proportion: Average curvature of spacetime  energy density –The actual equation can be solved for the metric which can be used to measure lengths and compute trajectories

Testing General Relativity General Relativity predicts that a light ray passing near the Sun should be deflected by the curved spacetime created by the Sun’s mass The prediction was confirmed by astronomers during a total solar eclipse

Other Verifications of General Relativity Explanation of Mercury’s orbit –Explained the discrepancy between observation and Newton’s theory Time delay of radar bounced off Venus Gradual lengthening of the period of binary pulsars (a neutron star) due to emission of gravitational radiation

Black Holes If the concentration of mass becomes great enough, a black hole is believed to be formed In a black hole, the curvature of space-time is so great that, within a certain distance from its center, all light and matter become trapped

Black Holes, cont The radius is called the Schwarzschild radius –Also called the event horizon –It would be about 3 km for a star the size of our Sun At the center of the black hole is a singularity –It is a point of infinite density and curvature where spacetime comes to an end