When a huge star many times the mass of the sun comes to the end of its life it collapses in on itself and forms a singularity – creating a black hole where gravity is so strong that not even light itself can escape.
At least, that’s what we thought.
A scientist has sensationally said that it is impossible for black holes to exist – and she even has mathematical proof to back up her claims.
If true, her research could force physicists to scrap their theories of how the universe began.
THE BLACK HOLE INFORMATION PARADOX
One of the biggest unanswered questions about black holes is the so-called information paradox.
Under current theories for black holes it is thought that nothing can escape from the event horizon around a black hole – not even light itself.
Inside the black hole is thought to be a singularity where matter is crushed to an infinitesimally small point as predicted by Einstein’s theory of gravity.
However, a fundamental law of quantum theory states that no information from the universe can ever disappear.
