Victor Grippi – The Atomic Writer

Let’s cover some of the basic science behind black holes and how they could be related to time travel.

Where do black holes come from?
Black holes, like us, are born from the stars. The elements that make up all living beings originate in stars that explode and spread these elements throughout the cosmos. Likewise, when a star burns up all of its hydrogen, it explodes in a supernova, and then begins to collapse onto itself. It will collapse so dense that it creates a singularity.

What are the details of this process?
Stars, like our Sun, emit light from a process known as fusion. Stars convert energy into light by fusing hydrogen into helium. When a star burns all of its hydrogen it turns into a red giant. At this stage the star now has a helium core with a hydrogen outer layer. This grows and expands the star.

Inside this massive helium core, gravity begins to pull all this matter into itself. The temperature of the core rises dramatically and begins fusion of the helium.

The pressure sends temperatures soaring above a billion degrees, and the rising gravitational force makes lighter elements fuse into heavier ones: first helium to oxygen, then oxygen to silicon, and, finally, silicon to iron. Throughout, the slowly expiring star grows denser and denser.

The red giant is now very dense and causes space time, the four dimensional fabric of space and time, to curve more and more. Fusion continues until all elements are gone except iron.

This is the critical point where fusion can no longer support that pull of gravity in the core, and within a millisecond, the star explodes into a supernova.

The aftermath of the supernova depends on how large the original star was. For stars that are between 1.4 to 2 times the mass of our sun, it will become a neutron star. A neutron star is made up of super dense and heavy neutrons all packed together by the extreme gravity of the core. For solar masses of 3 or more, the star collapses into a black hole. A black hole is condensed so much that gravity prevents even light from escaping it. The fabric of space time has been reduced to a point, known as a singularity.

It is at this point where our math breaks down. Scientists have long searched for a unifying theory where we can explain how matter acts at the singularity. Solving this problem is critical if we are to ever know if time travel is possible. Knowing the conditions at the singularity will also explain the conditions present at the big bang, or before. Having the ability to shape the fabric of space time implies the possibility of manipulating the time factor in the equation.

If time travel proves to not be possible, it is important that we understand why it is not possible. This will lead to further explanation of our physical world and may lead to new technologies and industries that can create jobs, prosperity, and a healthy strong economy. In these troubled economic times, we need to keep moving forward and resist the urge to fall back technically in an attempt to comfort ourselves.

Some blame our current state on the failed promise of technology and the over dependence we face as a society. Computer system that we rely on have proven to not be reliable in all cases. This leads to a backlash of sediment against technology and cries of the nostalgic simpler days. This is the wrong direction to go. The Atomic Writer advocates the responsible, ethical pursuit of knowledge so that we can move forward in a safe humane manner, while continually progressing into the future. There is no turning back – only moving forward.

Remember, never stop looking up at the night sky and asking, what if…

Until next time…

Victor Grippi
The Atomic Writer