Simulated black hole could 'break' general relativity

19 Feb 2016
University of Cambridge

A strangely-shaped black hole could cause Einstein's theory of relatively to completely "break down", according to new computer simulations.

The simulation shows a thin, ring-shaped black hole -- fat 'bulges' connected by strings that eventually grow so thin that they become a series of miniature black holes. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary, University of London, likened it to "the way a stream of water from a tap breaks up into droplets".

But, the researchers explained, such an object could only exist in a universe with five or more dimensions.

The ring-shaped holes were first theorised in 2002, but this experiment marks the first time they have been successfully simulated. If they were to exist, such holes would lead to a "naked singularity". According to the team behind the research this would cause the principles and equations behind general relativity to "break down".

In more specific terms, a singularity is a point in time where gravity becomes so intense that the fabric of space, time and physics completely breaks down. The theory of relativity states that singularities exist inside black holes, and that these holes are surrounded by "event horizons", which is "a point of no return where the gravitational pull becomes so strong that escape is impossible".


A naked singularity is one up from this -- an object that has collapsed to an "infinite density", causing the laws of physics to break down entirely. "If naked singularities exist, general relativity breaks down," said Saran Tunyasuvunakool, who also worked on the project. "And if general relativity breaks down, it would throw everything upside down, because it would no longer have any predictive power -- it could no longer be considered as a standalone theory of explain the universe."

And, according to Tunyasuvunakool, the better we get at simulating Einstein's theory of gravity in higher dimensions, "the easier it will be for us to help with advancing new computational techniques".

The simulation has already pushed computational power to "the limits", the team explained. "But if cosmic censorship doesn't hold in higher dimensions," Tunyasuvunakool said, "then maybe we need t look at what's so special about a four-dimensional universe that means it does hold".