Mergers of black holes and ‘kicks’ that hold a key to puzzles
A black hole is a place in space where the force of gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape from it. Here the gravity is very strong, as matter gets compressed into a very small space.
- A black hole is formed when a supernova explosion occurs at the end of a giant star’s lifetime. Black holes are formed from the remnants of this explosion.
- On the basis of size, black holes can be divided into the following: Small black holes (the size of just an atom), stellar-mass black holes (a few times the mass of the Sun) and super-massive black holes (millions of times the mass of the Sun).
- Researchers have also identified a medium mass black hole (Intermediate Mass Black Hole: IMBH) between stellar and super massive black holes.
- There are also factors, however, that limit the mass of the black hole thus formed.
- IMBH is not likely to be built on the basis of standard development principle. However, various black holes of this type have been detected.
- Now researchers from Chennai Mathematical Institute have tried to learn about the process of formation of IMBH by studying the merger of various black holes.
- The researchers studied kicks (the opposite motion acquired by the black hole created by the merger) during the merger. The estimation of these kicks helped to understand which black hole is most likely to transform into an IMBH.
Source – The Hindu
