Ever wondered what would happen if you fell into a black hole? According to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, you would be crushed by the powerful gravity of its singularity: the center of a black hole where all matter—and time—is compressed into an infinitely dense point where space and time break down. New research suggests that, instead of leading to cosmic oblivion, black hole singularities mark a beginning rather than an end.
In a study published March 11 in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters, two researchers applied quantum mechanics to a theoretical model of a black hole. Their results suggest a possible transition, or bridge, from a black hole singularity to a white hole—a point that, instead of sucking everything into nothingness, spews time, matter, and energy back into the universe.
“It has long been a question as to whether quantum mechanics can change our understanding of black holes and give us insights into their true nature,” Steffen Gielen, study co-author and a researcher from the University of Sheffield’s School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, said in a university release. “In quantum mechanics, time as we understand it cannot end as systems perpetually change and evolve.”
Gielen and his colleague Lucía Menéndez-Pidal, a mathematician from Complutense University of Madrid, investigated quantum mechanics within the context of a planar black hole—a simplified, two-dimensional model often used to test theoretical ideas. While physically observed black holes are spherical, the researchers suggest that their results can also apply to real-world black holes.
Rather than a black hole singularity, their approach indicates the existence of “strong quantum fluctuations,” which the release describes as “tiny, temporary changes in the energy of space.” Instead of space and time collapsing into nothingness, they are replaced by strong quantum fluctuations that may lead to a “transition” into a white hole. In a white hole, matter and time don’t end. As the theoretical opposite of a black hole, it could be where time starts.
“Hypothetically you could have an observer—a hypothetical entity—go through the black hole, through what we think of as a singularity and emerge on the other side of the white hole. It’s a highly abstract notion of an observer but it could happen, in theory,” Gielen explained.
The researchers also suggest an intriguing connection between time and dark energy, the theoretical force believed to be behind the universe’s accelerated expansion.
“While time is, in general, thought to be relative to the observer, in our research time is derived from the mysterious dark energy which permeates the entire universe,” said Gielen. “We propose that time is measured by the dark energy that is everywhere in the Universe,” he added. “This is the pivotal new idea that allows us to grasp the phenomena occurring within a black hole.”
Let’s return to the original question: what would happen if you fell into a black hole? Either you’re crushed into nothingness, or—according to Gielen and Lucía Menéndez-Pidal—you might pull a Matthew McConaughey and pop out on the other side, Interstellar-style.
