A strange signal in the background noise created by a fusion between two black holes may be the first in the history of finding a system of three black holes from a star table locked in a gravitational waltz.
According to a new analysis of Ligo-Virgo-Kagra cooperation data, binary binar data from 2019. black hole The collision showed signs of anomalous acceleration, suggesting the presence of a third black holeS
“This is the first international detection of clear evidence of a third compact object in binary black hole An event of merger, “says astronomer Ven-Biao Khan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“He reveals that binary black holes in the GW190814 may not have formed isolated, but are part of a more complex gravitational system, offering a significant idea of the paths for the formation of binary black holes.”
Related: A collision with the size of records between black holes discovered by astronomers
After the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, scientists have cataloged about 300 mergers of the events, in which binary black holes finally end their orbital decay and collide, combining in one object and sending gravitational waves that spread through the tissue of space.
Astronomers can analyze the signals in these pulsations to determine the masses of the participating black holes, with some mergers hinting at what we call hierarchical mergers -a series of mergers leading to greater and larger black holes.
YouTube miniature
This is because the black holes of the star table have a limitation of the upper table in the formation-point in which a massive star goes over and throws its outer layers, leaving a nucleus that collapses under its own gravity to become black holeS
Over a particular star table the whole set and kaboodle just burst completely, nucleus and all that, leaving nothing behind you – so if a black hole has been found above this border, scientists conclude that to put it black hole is a pre -merger product.
Gw190814 did not include a black hole above the border of the table. On the contrary, one of the participating black holes is considered the smallest of its kind ever, so small that it is on the verge of being a neutron star -only 2.6 times the greater than the mass of our own sun.
The other black hole The participants are significantly larger, about 23 solar tables. This mass ratio is beyond the evolution -projected evolution – usually expected binary objects to consist of two sites of comparable size.
A team led by Shu-Jan by the Chinese Academy of Sciences believes that this mass ratio is indicative of a complex past; A pair of black holes, which were collected together by the gravitational pull of a third, much larger object around which binary orbits.
So, they looked more closely at the gravitational wave data. A pair of black holes orbiting orbit a greater third should exhibit further acceleration along the line of vision due to the orbital movement around the third black holeS The researchers have developed how this will be manifested, after which they compared their model to the GW190814 data.
According to their model, the data suggest acceleration of the line of 0.0015 times greater than the speed of light in a vacuum, with a level of confidence of about 90 percent-deceives the presence of a third, unprecedented black holeS
YouTube miniature
This result can mean that black hole The mergers can, at least in some circumstances, take place in much more complicated circumstances than we knew. There may even be more hints for these – and other – complex circumstances that hide in data waiting for someone to develop the tools to distinguish them.
In addition, the finding provides more evidence of hierarchical mergers by validating the existence of black hole Trinari in which mergers can be made.
The next monitoring of the gravitational waves of the ligo-virgo-kagra is expected to provide a whole wealth of new data black hole mergers. Maybe shed both light on the environments in which they take place and the various ways that black hole Interactions can play throughout the universe.
The study has been published in The letters of astrophysical magazinesS