34.2 General relativity and quantum gravity  (Page 3/16)

Black holes

Black holes are difficult to observe directly, because they are small and no light comes directly from them. In fact, no light comes from inside the event horizon    , which is defined to be at a distance from the object at which the escape velocity is exactly the speed of light. The radius of the event horizon is known as the Schwarzschild radius     $R_{\text{S}}$ and is given by

where $G$ is the universal gravitational constant, $M$ is the mass of the body, and $c$ is the speed of light. The event horizon is the edge of the black hole and $R_{\text{S}}$ is its radius (that is, the size of a black hole is twice $R_{\text{S}}$ ). Since $G$ is small and $c^2$ is large, you can see that black holes are extremely small, only a few kilometers for masses a little greater than the Sun’s. The object itself is inside the event horizon.

Physics near a black hole is fascinating. Gravity increases so rapidly that, as you approach a black hole, the tidal effects tear matter apart, with matter closer to the hole being pulled in with much more force than that only slightly farther away. This can pull a companion star apart and heat inflowing gases to the point of producing X rays. (See [link] .) We have observed X rays from certain binary star systems that are consistent with such a picture. This is not quite proof of black holes, because the X rays could also be caused by matter falling onto a neutron star. These objects were first discovered in 1967 by the British astrophysicists, Jocelyn Bell and Anthony Hewish. Neutron stars are literally a star composed of neutrons. They are formed by the collapse of a star’s core in a supernova, during which electrons and protons are forced together to form neutrons (the reverse of neutron $\beta$ decay). Neutron stars are slightly larger than a black hole of the same mass and will not collapse further because of resistance by the strong force. However, neutron stars cannot have a mass greater than about eight solar masses or they must collapse to a black hole. With recent improvements in our ability to resolve small details, such as with the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, it has become possible to measure the masses of X-ray-emitting objects by observing the motion of companion stars and other matter in their vicinity. What has emerged is a plethora of X-ray-emitting objects too massive to be neutron stars. This evidence is considered conclusive and the existence of black holes is widely accepted. These black holes are concentrated near galactic centers.