Black holes have properties characteristic of quantum particles, a new study reveals, suggesting that the enigmatic cosmic objects can be both small and large, heavy and light, or dead and alive, just like the legendary Schrodinger's cat.
Space.com he says:
The new study, based on computer modeling, aimed to find the connection between the chronological physics of supermassive objects such as black holes and the principles that guide the behavior of the tiniest subatomic particles. The study team developed a mathematical framework that placed a simulated quantum particle just outside a giant simulated black hole.
The simulation revealed that the black hole showed signs of quantum superposition, the ability to exist in multiple states at the same time – in this case, having both mass and no mass at the same time.
The best-known example of quantum superposition is the legendary Schrödinger's cat, a thought experiment designed by 20th-century physicist Erwin Schrödinger to demonstrate some of the key issues in quantum physics.
According to quantum theories, subatomic particles exist in multiple states simultaneously until they interact with the outside world. This interaction, which could be a simple act of measurement or observation, throws the particle into one of the possible states.
Erwin Schrödinger, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933, intended the experiment to demonstrate the absurdity of quantum theory, as he stated that a cat locked in a box could be both dead and alive based on the random behavior of individuals, until until an observer breaks the superposition (makes a new observation and sees another state of the cat).
However, as it turns out, while a cat in a box could be dead regardless of the observer's actions, a quantum particle can actually exist in a dual state.
The new study shows that a black hole behaves the same way.
The new study published online in the journal Physical Review Letters on Friday.
