A primordial black hole is a hypothetical type of black hole that is formed not by the gravitational collapse of a large star but by the extreme density of matter present during the universe's early expansion.
According to the Big Bang Model, during the first few moments after the Big Bang, pressure and temperature were extremely great. Under these conditions, simple fluctuations in the density of matter may have resulted in local regions dense enough to create black holes. Although most regions of high density would be quickly dispersed by the expansion of the universe, a primordial black hole would be stable, persisting to the present.
It has been proposed that primordial black holes, specifically those forming in the mass range of 1014 kg to 1023 kg, could be a candidate for dark matter. This is due to the possibility that at this low mass they would behave as expected of other particle candidates for dark matter. Being within the typical mass range of asteroids, this excludes those black holes too small to persist until our era and those too large to explain gravitational lensing observations.
Read more about Primordial Black Hole: Possible Detection, Implications, String Theory
Famous quotes containing the words primordial, black and/or hole:
“It is impossible to give a clear account of the world, but art can teach us to reproduce it—just as the world reproduces itself in the course of its eternal gyrations. The primordial sea indefatigably repeats the same words and casts up the same astonished beings on the same sea-shore.”
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