Genius of Human Mind: Blackhole

This post is also available in:

Yesterday April 10th, 2019 enter into history of witnessing The unveiling of the first-ever picture of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope in April 2019, however, not only confirmed Einstein’s original theory, but also provided indisputable proof that the gravitational monsters are, in fact, real.

The Space-Time Theory

As described by American physicist John A. Wheeler, general relativity governs the nature of space-time, particularly how it reacts in the presence of matter: “matter tells space-time how to curve, and space-time tells matter how to move.”

Picture a flat rubber sheet (space-time) suspended above the ground. Place a bowling ball in the middle of the sheet (matter) and the sheet will distort around the mass, bending half way to the floor— this is matter telling space-time how to curve. Now roll a marble (matter) around the rubber sheet (space-time) and the marble’s trajectory will change, being deflected by the warped sheet— this is space-time telling matter how to move. Matter and space-time are inextricably linked, with gravity mediating their interaction.

Now, place a singularity a theoretical point of infinite density onto the sheet, what would happen to space-time? It was German theoretical physicist Karl Schwarzschild, not Einstein, who used general relativity to describe this hypothetical situation, a situation that would become the most extreme test of general relativity.

Black hole “teaches us that space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as ‘sacred,’ as immutable, are anything but,” Wheeler wrote in his 1999 autobiography.

Thanks to astronomers and computer scientists working with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of eight linked telescopes, humanity was finally able to visualize these “infinitesimal dots.” Although Einstein wasn’t alive to see evidence of black holes the result of real singularities about which he remained doubtful his theory of relativity made their discovery possible.

And, no doubt he also would have marveled at the ghostly crescent surrounding a near-perfect dark disk: proof that even the most outrageous theories can turn out to be true. Himself same as Stephen Hawking who died recently, left to us a legacy that shine to be known for more to come.