Black holes life cycle
Pro Research Analysisby 
Searched over 200M research papers
The Life Cycle of Black Holes: From Formation to Evaporation
Formation of Black Holes
Black holes are formed from the remnants of massive stars that have ended their life cycles. When a star with a mass greater than approximately 20 times that of the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel, it undergoes a supernova explosion, leaving behind a dense core. If this core's mass exceeds the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit, it collapses under its own gravity to form a black hole.
Evolution and Stability of Black Holes
Extremal Black Holes
Extremal black holes, which are charged and cannot fully evaporate through the Hawking effect, are particularly long-lived. These black holes participate in various astrophysical processes over their lifetimes, which can eventually lead to their destruction .
Quasi-Stable Black Holes
At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), black holes with lifetimes of hundreds of femtoseconds can be produced. These black holes may leave behind quasi-stable remnants, which are of significant interest in high-energy physics .
Binary Black Holes
In the local universe, binary black holes with masses ranging from (10^5) to (10^8) solar masses are found in galaxies with diverse stellar profiles. The lifetime of these binary black holes, especially during the transition from the hardening phase to the gravitational wave emission phase, can range from fractions of a gigayear to over 10 gigayears, depending on the stellar density profiles of their host galaxies .
Hawking Radiation and Black Hole Evaporation
Hawking Radiation
Black holes emit particles such as neutrinos and photons through a process known as Hawking radiation. This radiation causes the black hole to lose mass over time, increasing its surface gravity and emission rate, ultimately leading to its evaporation. For a black hole of solar mass, this process takes much longer than the current age of the universe, but smaller black holes formed in the early universe would have already evaporated .
Quantum Tunneling to White Holes
A fascinating aspect of black hole life cycles is the potential for quantum tunneling into white holes. This process suggests that a black hole, after evaporating, could tunnel into a white hole, which acts as a long-lived remnant. This scenario provides a possible resolution to the information paradox and forms a unitary process that does not violate known physics .
Black Holes in Cyclic Cosmology
In cyclic cosmological models, black holes can persist through successive cosmic cycles. These black holes, depending on their mass, could explain dark matter, provide seeds for galaxies, generate entropy, and even drive cosmological bounces. The cycles naturally end when the filling factor of black holes reaches unity, potentially leading to a dimensional transition .
Conclusion
The life cycle of black holes is a complex and multifaceted process that spans from their formation in stellar collapses to their potential evaporation through Hawking radiation. Extremal and quasi-stable black holes, binary black holes, and the intriguing possibility of black holes transitioning into white holes all contribute to our understanding of these enigmatic objects. Additionally, the role of black holes in cyclic cosmology highlights their significance in the broader context of the universe's evolution.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic