Scientists Find Evidence Black Holes May Not Always Form From Star Remnants

Researchers have found evidence that the formation of black holes doesn't require the remnant of a star to form. The team says their new evidence may explain the presence of extremely massive black holes at the earliest stages of the universe. The discovery is based on the assumption that supermassive black holes form quickly over short periods of time and then stop.

The new theory is a contrasting opinion to the current understanding of black holes that believes they emerge when the center of a massive star collapses in on itself. The scientists formed a new mathematical model by calculating the mass function of supermassive black holes that form over a limited time.

"This is indirect observational evidence that black holes originate from direct-collapses and not from stellar remnants," said Basu, an internationally recognized expert in the early stages of star formation and protoplanetary disk evolution.

The new model shows that the supermassive black hole could form over a limited period of time and undergo rapid exponential growth of mass. The growth is regulated by the Eddington limit that is set by a balance of radiation and gravitational forces.

Researchers say that the direct-collapse scenario allows for initial masses that are much greater than implied by the standard stellar remnant scenario and can go a long way towards explaining their observations. The team says that their new result provides evidence that such direct-collapse black holes were produced in the early universe.

The team also thinks that the new results can be used to infer the formation history of the extremely massive black holes that exist at early times in the universe. The team says that further work needs to be done to validate the new theory. Black holes are some of the most powerful objects in the universe and among the most mysterious.