Illustration by Sandbox Studio, Chicago with Corinne Mucha
Physics at tiniest scale could explain ‘impossible’ black holes
12/15/20
By Scott Hershberger
Until recently, scientists had never detected black holes in the “mass gap” now, particle physicists are exploring ideas beyond the Standard Model that could explain them.
On May 21, 2019, a ripple in spacetime alerted scientists to what they thought was an impossible event: a collision between two black holes that should not have existed.
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories had witnessed over a dozen black-hole collisions, but this merger was different. Both black holes were situated in the “mass gap,” a range of masses that, for black holes, should be forbidden.