,

Black Holes and the Scientific Process

where G is the gravitational constant and M is the mass
Manojendu Choudhury of the black hole, while c is the velocity of light in
vacuum. If the sun (with solar mass ) was to be
UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic compressed to a maximum volume defined by the
Sciences, Mumbai – 400098. , then the lowest density will be
.
Arguably, black hole is perhaps the most popular The numerical value of the above expression is
scientific term among the lay person. Perhaps it is the , which is typically more than the
phrasing of the term 'black hole' which appeals to the nuclear density of atoms (for eg, the nuclear density of
popular imagination, offering some exotic visual of a gold is ). Therefore the idea
cosmic object to the mind's eye. Although the percolates that black holes are the most dense objects
prediction of such an object was first made in the late found in this universe, especially so in the popular
eighteenth century[1] it was in the sixties of the last literature.
century that the study of this class of objects entered the
realm of mainstream research, chiefly because of two Let us examine this so called lowest density of black
developments: first, the birth and rapid progress of X- holes a bit more closely and quantify the values
ray astronomy, and second, the discovery of pulsars, a obtained under different scale of mass. For a stellar
class of neutron stars which form the highly dense end mass black hole to exist, the current theoretical models
point in the life cycle of a normal star. The direct state that the mass of the compact object needs to be at
evidence of the existence of neutron stars elicited the least . Therefore for the smallest size black hole,
possibility of the existence of black holes too which has the density, which scales as (see above), goes down
led to the vast diverse body of research work on this to while for a black hole with
subject over the last few decades. mass of ten solar mass the density obtained is two
orders of magnitude less than and is now
The difference between neutron star (or any other comparable to the nuclear density.
heavenly body, for that matter!) and black hole is very
fundamental. The neutron star has a definite surface The most massive black holes are found in the centre of
whereas for the black hole the nature of the surface is galaxies (namely the active galactic nuclei – AGN,
very ephemeral, as matter can not exist at the surface although it is believed that most galactic centres
(or the boundary) of the black hole. This boundary of a harbour a supermassive black hole including that of our
non rotating black hole is known as the event horizon, own Milky Way[2]). The mass of these supermassive
as photon is unable to escape this boundary of the black black holes lie in the range of . Hence
hole. Hence, no matter can be observed inside the event the density of the most massive black hole, typically,
horizon. Therefore this quantity is used as the boundary reaches a value of . Comparing this value
of the object, as well as a measure of the size of the with the densities of solid gold ( ),
black hole. For a rotating black hole the structure of the water ( ) and air ( ) we
boundary is more complicated with the addition of notice that the so called density of the supermassive
more layers of surface to account for the angular black hole is actually not very high. In fact it is about
momentum of the system. two orders of magnitude less than the mean solar
density ( ).
1. Black Hole Mass and its Implications Also, more importantly, at the mass scale of a
The fact that even light can not escape the pull of supermassive black hole, there is no other object that
gravity conjures up an image of extremely dense object. can exist as a stable single body other than a black hole.
Although it is not possible to ascertain a well defined The most massive of stars, the O type, even though it is
value of the density of a black hole, one may obtain a million times smaller than the biggest black holes,
minimum density by dividing the mass of the black would have gone through the whole life cycle under the
hole by the volume of a sphere whose radius has the burden of its own gravity in a few million years,.
dimension of the Schwarzschild radius, i.e. the event Hence, the picture that emerges is that at a scale of
horizon of a non-spinning black hole, given by
 , the most compact objects that can exist 2. Light from Black Holes
have a density less than a typical star. Hence, the forces It is obvious from the nomenclature that no light can
that govern the matter-radiation interaction at highest come out of the black hole, rendering the object to be
scale, ensure that the existence of the most massive of invisible, literally. This leads to the conundrum of
objects is availed with a loss of density. Hence, for observing a black hole. Hence, despite being a
extremely high scale of mass, the density has to fall theoretical curiosity for nearly two centuries as well as
even for the most compact objects, as the density scales a logical inference of Schwarzschild's solution to
with where M is the mass of the compact object. Einstein's field equations[3], the realm of black holes
remained in the periphery of mainstream research. On
This simple exercise of calculating the average density the theoretical front the emission from black holes
of the different black holes illustrates the power of received new fillip when quantum analysis of the
detailed quantitative calculation in forming the picture spacetime around event horizon showed that radiation
of physical scenarios. This approach is one of the pillars with spectrum similar to that of black body is emitted
of scientific thinking on which the edifice of the by the event horizon[4]. This radiation is called the
scientific understanding is resting. Here, the Hawking radiation and its spectrum is characterized by
quantitative estimates of the densities of the various a temperature which is inversely proportional to the
sizes of black holes allows one to infer that the steep mass of the black hole. This briefly raised the hope that
gravitational potential of the compact object is reduced an external observer may receive high amount of
as one increases the mass of the black hole, and by the radiation from black holes. But despite the development
time one reaches the most massive black holes observed of the very exciting niche of black hole
the gravitational potential is far less steep than our own thermodynamics[5], the power emitted from the
sun. But, despite the drastic reduction in the density Hawking radiation remains abysmally small and below
and hence the resultant gravitational attraction of the the ability of any detector in foreseeable future.
compact object, light is unable to come out of the event
horizon. This immediately suggests that the nature of The classical understanding of the physical picture of
spacetime continuum plays a much more important role black holes can be summarized by the 'no hair
in determining the ability of massive objects to escape conjecture' which states, without a complete formal
the gravitational attraction of a compact object, which proof, that the matter when crossing the event horizon
is actually a manifestation of the bending of the does so irreversibly such that no information about the
spacetime continuum in the presence of the mass of the matter can be leaked out[6][7]. This leads to the famous
compact object. This has important implications in the black hole information paradox which contradicts the
way the black holes impact their immediate quantum mechanics paradigm in which a wave function
neighbourhood, manifested in the emission from the that defines a particle will describe it for all time, future
accretion disc around it (see section 3). and past, determined by a unitary operator. Even the
ability of black holes to radiate via Hawking radiation,
The obvious caveat to the above argument is that the which is a quantum effect, was unable to resolve the
density of black hole is ill defined. Without a proper paradox unequivocally. In fact, reportedly, there was a
quantum theory of gravity it is not yet known what the public bet with Kip Thorne and Stephen Hawking on
nature of mass inside the event horizon is like. In the one side and John Preskill on the opposite side, in
above calculations it was assumed that the mass is which Thorne and Hawking claimed that general
homogeneously distributed inside the event horizon relativity would not allow the black hole to leak any
filling up the Schwarzschild volume, which is an information and the Hawking radiation originated
unqualified assumption to say the least. Specifically, outside the event horizon and hence would not violate
neither the effect of the singularity on the constituents the no-hair-conjecture. On the other hand, Preskill
around it is known, nor can the effect of the changed argued that the reversibility of the unitary operator that
nature of the spacetime continuum on matter inside the determines the wave function of the particles falling
event horizon be predicted. Nevertheless, the mean through the event horizon will alter the general
value of the density obtained above does provide a relativistic understanding in a way that information will
[8]
physical picture at the various scales of the mass of the be not be lost. Currently the paradox is unresolved
black holes that exist. although Hawking has rescinded his position and
argues that the quantum fluctuation of the event horizon
will cause the black hole to evaporate leading to leaking
of information.
This scenario of theoretical understanding is a prime 3. X-ray Astronomy and Accretion Process
example of one of the most important methods of An X-ray photon is a quantum of electromagnetic
scientific thinking. In this mode of scientific radiation with an energy, to an order of magnitude
development the theoretical understanding keeps on approximation, some 1000 times greater than that of
progressing by virtue of the derivation of mathematical optical photons. Traditionally, the soft X-ray band is
results in the hope that some day in future the defined as the energy range 0.5 – 12 keV
theoretical claims will hold up to the experimental and (corresponding to wavelength of 25 – 1 Å), the hard X-
observational scrutiny. This line of theoretical ray extends to 50 keV and the energy range beyond it
development may lead to mathematical situation which till a few MeV is regarded as soft gamma-rays,
can not be rendered a physical justification, and the although this classification is not very stringent. X-ray
inferential construct of such theoretical models need to astronomy pertains to the observation of the sky in this
be scrutinized and accepted by the community. Given regime of the electromagnetic spectrum. The study of
the current scenario of disseminating information cosmic sources at these high energies of X-rays and soft
through informal channels, viz. blogs, online forums, gamma-rays began only in the early 1960’s, after the
social network and related media which can be serendipitous discovery of the low mass X-ray binary
manipulated to market opinions, the non-specialist (LMXB) Sco X-1, which houses a neutron star (the
needs to learn to apply discretion while accepting compact object) and a low mass optical companion in
scientific claims. One needs to check whether proper the main sequence. The most common physical
rigorous peer scrutiny has been applied to the claims phenomenon that gives rise to emission in the X-ray
and whether the claims fall in the category of the band is accretion of matter onto compact objects. This
scientifically acceptable, theoretically possible or that process involves accumulation of
of a mere mathematical oddity. diffuse gas or matter onto the compact object under the
influence of gravity, and is expected to be responsible
A different mode of scientific process is more evident for the observed properties of a wide range of X-ray
when it comes to the indirect observations that lay sources from X-ray binaries to AGNs.
claim to a particular scientific construct like a black
hole. The advent of X-ray astronomy, just before the era A mass m being accreted to a body of mass M and
of Hawking and his radiation, opened the window to radius R will lose potential energy , which, if
observe the matter falling into the black hole. Here it is converted to electromagnetic radiation, will cause the
the observations of unknown sources emitting radiation system to have a luminosity of
not hitherto observed that drive the exploration of new
regimes of discovery while theoretical models are ,
developed to construct a scientific rationale. Such a where gives the efficiency of converting
situation presented itself about half a century ago when the gravitational energy dissipated and lost in the
the very first strong X-ray emission was observed from electromagnetic radiation via the accretion process.
Galactic sources. The paradigm of black holes, neutron Thus the efficiency of energy conversion due to
stars (and also white dwarfs) in a binary system with a accretion simply depends upon the compactness of the
normal main sequence companion was hypothesized to accreting body. A white dwarf star with ,
explain the origin of the high energy emission. In such and corresponds
a system the compact object, viz. the neutron star or the to . Correspondingly for neutron
black hole, accretes matter from the binary companion star with the efficiency (the
which loses its gravitational energy which is emitted efficiency for nuclear burning in neutron stars is
out in the form of electromagnetic radiation . In the only ), and for black holes ranges from
case of AGNs, the supermassive black hole at the 0.06 (Schwarzschild black hole) to 0.426 (maximally
galactic centre accretes matter from its environment, rotating Kerr black hole). Thus, black holes,
predominantly consisting of inter-stellar material (ISM) particularly, maximally rotating ones, are the most
and also the nearby stars and the matter being accreted powerful energy sources in the universe and accretion is
loses its gravitational energy. This energy is converted the mechanism by which the energy is released. Despite
by some physical process (see next section) into this high efficiency of emission of electromagnetic
electromagnetic radiation. Thus, an indirect observation energy, the balance between the outwardly directed
of black holes is made possible. radiation pressure (obtained from Thomson cross-
section) and inwardly directed gravitational
pressure limits the luminosity to a limiting value, called
Eddington luminosity, which is given by apparent velocity greater than that of light) expansion,
were reported before the phenomenon of accretion was
. inferred from the observational studies. Historically this
It should be noted that this is derived assuming happened for the extra-Galactic sources. Quasars, a
spherically symmetric geometry. Thus, for a stellar sub-class of AGNs, were discovered in the radio band
mass black hole with, typically, a mass of the of electromagnetic radiation during the era of the very
maximum luminosity observed should be of the order early discovery of X-ray sources which were
of , whereas for the AGNs subsequently identified to be accreting supermassive
( ) that limit is . black holes ( ) with outflows in the form
It is possible to exceed the Eddington limit by adopting of a jet observable in the radio band by virtue of the
a different geometry, but not by a large factor. Further, physical process of synchrotron emission. Therefore a
the limit applies to steady-state situations and in none paradigm of accretion being related to ejection had
steady-state situations like supernova or the dwarf gradually developed, although the outflow was not
novae explosions the Eddington limit can be exceeded observable in the radio quiet AGNs. The discovery of
by a large margin. Galactic X-ray binaries exhibiting (superluminal) radio
jets, with both physical and temporal (variability)
The different densities of the black hole systems scale roughly at 6 orders of magnitude less than those
manifests in different steepness of the gravitational of quasars, led to the notion of ubiquitous presence of
potential of the compact object. This results in the outflow in the form of collimated jets in accreting
accreting matter giving rise to different spectra such black hole systems and low magnetic field ( )
that the thermal emission of the accreting matter peaks neutron stars, lending them the terminology of
at different wavelengths. For the stellar mass X-ray microquasars.
binary systems the temperature peaks in the X-ray band
while for the less steep gravitational potential of the The spectral analysis of the emissions from these
supermassive black holes the spectra peaks in the sources show that in addition to the thermal emission
ultraviolet (or at times the optical) band. from the infalling matter (normally following the
geometrical form of a disc, hence the terminology of
accretion disc) a highly energetic optically thin region
also exists inside the truncated accretion disc giving rise
to high energy non-thermal emission. Hence, the
outskirts of the black holes provide the unique
laboratory in the universe where matter-radiation
interaction at the highest energies is observable.

The physical processes that cause the electromagnetic

radiation from these systems involve the acceleration
(positive or negative) of the charged particles due to the
presence of electric and/or magnetic fields. The
processes are, namely, Bremsstrahlung, Synchrotron, in
addition to the scattering process of Comptonization.
The emission behaviour, manifested in the emission
spectrum, depends on the nature of the electron
distribution in the accretion medium. Thus, the thermal
and/or the non-thermal distribution of the electrons are
Figure 1. An artist's image of a X-ray binary system. (The of paramount importance in the emission process. It
image is reproduced under the conditions of the GNU Free Documentation License) . may be noted that the thermal black body emission is
one of the most important component in the spectra of
An additional interesting observational feature seen in the emitted light from these accreting system and is
these sources is that accreted matter is more often than used as a diagnostic of the effective temperature of the
not ejected out in the form of a jet perpendicular to the system. Also, it needs to be noted that the process of
accretion disc. In fact the observations in the radio synchrotron, where the electrons are accelerated by the
band, of outflowing conical jets from the core magnetic field, is observed in the emission from the
of the galaxies, often exhibiting superluminal (with outflow of the system.
 impressive. But it may well be nothing. "Harmony"
4. Superluminal Motion seems a strange basis on which to argue for the Earth’s
Among the various different physical phenomena seen motion, ... Copernicus’s arguments are not pragmatic.
in these sources, we will mention the most interesting They appeal, if at all, not to the utilitarian sense of the
one, namely, the superluminal motion. Due to the practicing astronomer but to his aesthetic sense and to
geometrical effects at high velocity, the outflowing jet that alone.”[13] Copernican approach to explain the
appears to be moving at a velocity greater than that of observation of the inferior planets and the retrograde
light[9]. This optical illusion is rarely visible as it motion of the superior planets produced a simpler
requires the combination of energetics of the system model that seemed to predict the observations as
and the orientation of the expanding jet very near the opposed to Ptolemy's model which was only
line of sight. The extreme velocity is possible only if accommodating the observations by introducing
the central engine driving the system has the high inharmonious complexities in the system.
compactness at the given scale of mass. The interesting
aspect to be considered is that the features of the
superluminal motion remains similar for both the
extremes of black holes, stellar massive and
supermassive.

An enthusiast, seeking to learn more of the observed

studies of the phenomenon of superluminal motion,
may follow two sources, 3C273 (AGN) and GRS
1915+105 (Galactic X-ray binary). Both these sources
exhibit superluminal motion, and the time scale of the
motion of the material on the plane of sight, is an
indicator of the relative scales of the mass of the two
objects. In Figure 2 the separation of the ejected blobs
of GRS 1915+105 is measured over a few days,
whereas for 3C273 the separation measured over much
lower scale is measured over few years [10].

5. Scientific Process
In this article we have explored the power of the
scientific process which not only enables us to explore
invisible objects like the black hole but also extends our
understanding in other spheres related to the core topic.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the scientific
process is to maintain the balance and consistency of
the scientific construct, which the philosopher may
refer to as harmony. Thus, the scientific process
succeeded in converting an exotic theoretical object
into a regular research material, and in the process Figure 2. The observation of superluminal motion in
created a connection of physical phenomena across a the microquasar GRS 1915+105 from the MERLIN
physical dimension spanning six orders of magnitude. radio observatory. The two lobes appear to move apart
This search for balance, consistency and harmony in the with a velocity greater than that of light. (The image is produced
[9]
under the Creative Commons 3.0 license .
processes and constructs of the universe is not a very
recent phenomenon, but what is fairly recent is the use
of quantitative measurements in developing the Similarly, the black hole is not without its
understanding the of underlying process in a physical controversies, in fact it is one of the most controversial
system. The first such successful attempt was that of topic of research since its introduction, but the scientific
Nicolas Copernicus's heliocentric model of the solar process of balancing our understanding consistently
system[12]. As Thomas Kuhn puts it, “The sum of will continue to persevere and guide us to newer
evidence drawn from harmony is nothing if not horizons of knowledge.
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