Scientists find multiple pathways to black hole formation

 Scientists have found that black holes can form through multiple cosmic pathways, according to researchers at Australia's Monash University, who are part of the global LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration.

Scientists have identified clear evidence that black hole binaries originate from distinct sub-populations, effectively forming through "different cosmic assembly lines that operate in unique environments," said a Monash University statement on Wednesday, News.az reports, citing Xinhua.

The LVK Collaboration operates three major detectors that detect gravitational waves -- ripples in spacetime -- produced by cosmic events like colliding black holes and neutron stars.

The latest catalog of gravitational-wave detections, released by the LVK Collaboration, compiles nearly 400 black hole collision events, each creating a heavier black hole and giving scientists a rich dataset to map how the Universe builds black hole systems, the statement said.

Researchers said some black holes form from massive stars born in collapsing gas clouds, while others arise in densely packed star clusters where black holes "wander into each other." A third group are "hierarchical" products of "a previous generation of mergers between two black holes."

The study also identified rapidly spinning black holes, some rotating several thousand times per second, and found that heavier black holes -- exceeding 45 times the mass of the Sun -- are more likely to merge with smaller companions.

"We are no longer just looking at individual anomalies, instead, we are seeing a true kaleidoscope of cosmic collisions," said Monash University Professor Eric Thrane. 

News.Az 

By Faig Mahmudov