Scientists have discovered a method to create “plasma fireballs” similar to those produced by black holes – but here on Earth.
As detailed in a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.
This breakthrough could help researchers decode the mysteries of gamma-ray bursts and the powerful jets emitted by black holes across the cosmos.
Scientists have successfully generated plasma “fireballs” akin to those made by black holes. This marks a new era in laboratory astrophysics.
NASA/JPL-Caltech.
“This opens a completely new frontier in laboratory astrophysics by enabling the experimental study of the microphysics of gamma-ray bursts or active jets from galactic nuclei,” said lead author Charles Arrowsmith, a physicist at the University of Oxford, in a statement.
Black holes are among the densest entities in the universe, with gravitational forces so strong that even light cannot escape once it draws too close. Plasma is a state of matter where the gas becomes ionized, consisting of free electrons and ions. Some black holes, particularly those with high rotational speeds, can produce powerful plasma jets made up of electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons, which are ejected at nearly the speed of light. These jets are emitted from areas near the black hole’s poles and are thought to be driven by the black hole’s magnetic fields and rotational energy.
For the first time, scientists have created high-density plasma beams consisting of about 10 trillion electron-positron pairs, which behave like actual plasma exhibiting wave-like properties.
“Generating plasma ‘fireballs’ in the laboratory composed of matter, antimatter, and photons is a cutting-edge research goal in high energy density science,” Arrowsmith said. “But the experimental challenge of producing electron-positron pairs in sufficiently high numbers has thus far confined our understanding to purely theoretical studies.”
The researchers hope this achievement will aid scientists in better grasping the physics of gamma-ray bursts and supermassive black holes located at the centers of most galaxies.
“Earth-based satellites and telescopes cannot resolve the smallest details of distant gamma-ray bursts and active outflows from galactic nuclei, and so far we have had to rely solely on numerical simulations,” said study author Gianluca Gregori, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, in a statement. “This new method will now allow us to test the predictions of advanced theoretical calculations, such as how cosmic fireballs interact with the interstellar plasma existing between stars.”
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