A mysterious cosmic hum may come from 13-billion-year-old dark stars
Researchers have proposed that a mysterious cosmic hum detected by pulsar timing arrays may originate from 13-billion-year-old dark stars. This theory suggests that early supermassive black holes could be the source of the gravitational wave background observed today.
Why it matters
This discovery could fundamentally change our understanding of the early universe and the formation of the first supermassive black holes.
A faint background of extremely low frequency gravitational waves detected through networks of pulsars could contain clues to events that unfolded more than 13 billion years ago, including the emergence of some of the Universe's earliest supermassive black holes.
In a study published as a Letter in Physical Review D , Colgate University researchers Sohan Ghodla and Cosmin Ilie examined whether supermassive black holes that originated in the early Universe could eventually produce a significant share of the gravitational wave background now being measured by Pulsar Timing Arrays, or PTAs.
The findings connect two areas of astronomy that may at first seem far apart. One involves observations of surprisingly massive black holes that already existed when the Universe was young. The other involves gravitational waves generated billions of years later by pairs of supermassive black holes spiraling toward one another.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in