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In astrophysics , there ’s a saying that " black hole have no hair . " This mean that , in the theory of generalrelativity , black holes are exceptionally simplistic objects . All you need to describe a pitch-black jam is its batch , its galvanizing thrill and its spin rate . With those three numbers alone , you have everything you could ever love about black holes . In other dustup , they ’re bald — they have no extra information .

This facet of black trap is extremely frustrative to astrophysicists , who desperately require to understand how these cosmic behemoth work . But because black fix have no " pilus , " there ’s no way to memorize more about them and what hit them tick . Alas , bootleg holes remain some of the most confusing and secret objects in the universe of discourse .

An illustration of a black hole.

An illustration of a black hole.

Related : Stephen Hawking ’s far-famed black hole paradox may at last have a solvent

But this concept of " no - fuzz " mordant hole relies on our current sympathy of general relativity , as originally excogitate byAlbert Einstein . This picture of relativity focuses on the curvature of space - time . Any entity with mass or energy will bend space - time around it , and that bending apprise those entities how to move .

This is not the only direction to construct a theory of relativity theory , however . There ’s an entirely different approach that instead focalize on the " twistiness , " rather than on the curvature , of space - time . In this picture , any entity with peck or vitality twists up space - time around it , and that spin instruct other objects how to move .

An illustration of a black hole churning spacetime around it

The two approach , one based on curve and the other base on twistiness , are mathematically equivalent . But because Einstein developed the curvature - based language first , it ’s much more widely used . The twistiness approaching , know as " teleparallel " gravity for its mathematical employment of parallel lines , offer a lot of way for intriguing theoretical insights that are n’t obvious in the curve glide path .

As an example , a team of theoretic physicist lately search how teleparallel gravity could draw shut the problem of black trap hairiness . They detail their workplace in a paper published to the preprint databasearXivin July . ( The research has yet to be equal - reviewed . )

The team examined likely extensions of world-wide relativity using what ’s called a scalar field — a quantum physical object that inhabit all of place and time . A famous example of a scalar arena is theHiggs boson , which is responsible for giving many particles their masses . There may be extra scalar field of force that inhabit the population and subtly alter how gravity works , and physicists have long used these scalar theater of operations in attempts to explain the nature of cosmic mysteries such asdark matteranddark energy .

An illustration of a black hole in space

In unconstipated curve - based general relativity , there are only so many ways to add scalar sphere . But in teleparallel sombreness , there are many more choice . This enquiry team discovered a elbow room to add scalar fields to general relativity using the teleparallel framework . Then , they used that approach to investigate if these scalar fields , which would otherwise be invisible , might show up near bootleg holes .

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An illustration of a spinning black hole with multicolor light

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The end result : The scalar field contribute to universal Einstein’s theory of relativity , when explore through the teleparallel lens , give black holes some hair .

The " hair " in this display case is the presence of a secure scalar sphere near the upshot horizon of a black-market hole . Crucially , this scalar field carries information about the black hole inside it , which would give up scientists to realise more about black hole without get to engross inside them .

an illustration of two black holes swirling together

Now that the researchers have name how to give black muddle some whisker , they next demand to work on the observational consequences of these issue . For object lesson , futuregravitational wave observationsmight reveal subtle signatures of these scalar field in the collision of blackened cakehole .

Galaxies observed by the JWST with those rotating one way circled in red, those rotating the other way circled in blue

Illustration of a black hole jet.

An illustration of a black hole with light erupting from it

A lot of galaxies are seen as bright spots on a dark background. Toward the left, the JWST is shown in an illustration.

A close-up view of a barred spiral galaxy. Two spiral arms reach horizontally away from the core in the centre, merging into a broad network of gas and dust which fills the image. This material glows brightest orange along the path of the arms, and is darker red across the rest of the galaxy. Through many gaps in the dust, countless tiny stars can be seen, most densely around the core.

An illustration of a black hole surrounded by a cloud of dust, with an inset showing a zoomed in view of the black hole

An illustration of a black hole with a small round object approaching it, causing a burst of energy

A bright red arc of light seen against greyish red clouds in space. hundreds of stars dot the background

Diagram of the mud waves found in the sediment.

an illustration of a base on the moon

An aerial photo of mountains rising out of Antarctica snowy and icy landscape, as seen from NASA�s Operation IceBridge research aircraft.

A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Screen-capture of a home security camera facing a front porch during an earthquake.

An active fumerole in Iceland spews hydrogen sulfide gas.

A woman exercising on a rowing machine while observing her workout stats on an adjacent monitor