Black Holes May Evolve Into White Holes “Where Time Begins,” Groundbreaking Theory Suggest

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A radical new theory suggests that black holes could transition into white holes, creating a location in space where time begins by ejecting material back into the cosmos. The theory also suggests a quantum mechanics link between black and white holes, including an aspect of enigmatic dark matter.

The research team behind the new theory believes their work could represent a critical step toward reconciling quantum mechanics and gravity, potentially leading to new theories about the universe’s very nature.

Black Holes (and White Holes) Have Long Fascinated Scientists

First proposed by Albert Einstein, black holes have long fascinated scientists. Still, studying the directly has proven challenging, as Earth’s nearest black hole is over 30 light years away.

Some theories suggest a connection between black holes and dark matter. Another study suggested black holes may hold the key to dark energy, another theoretical form of exotic matter that, along with dark matter, makes up nearly all of the universe’s mass.

In 2023, Northwestern University scientists suggested that black holes devour matter faster than previously believed, potentially defying physics. More recently, supermassive black holes have perplexed scientists, who claim their very existence challenges the limits of physics.

More speculative theories suggest that black holes could be made of light. One idea even proposed that advanced civilizations could use a black hole as a weapon.

The new effort from University of Sheffield scientists says black holes may evolve into white holes, where time takes on an entirely new meaning.

“Where Time Begins”

In a press release announcing their discovery, researchers from the University of Sheffield describe the fundamental concept of white holes and how they differ from black holes.

“While black holes are often described as sucking everything, including time, into a point of nothingness, in the paper, white holes are theorised to act in reverse, ejecting matter, energy, and time back into the universe,” they explain. “Rather than a singularity signifying the end, it could represent a new beginning.”

The team used a simplified computer model of a two-dimensional black hole known as a planar black hole to explore the concept of white holes. Although typical black holes have a spherical shape, the team suggests that the same overall mechanisms they describe could also apply to typical black holes.

The team’s simulations replaced the singularity thought to be at the center of black holes with a fluctuating quantum field. Their analysis showed that these tiny changes, “where space and time do not end,” create a situation where a black hole transitions into a white hole. The resulting theoretical region of space would operate opposite to a black hole, ejecting light, matter, and even time into the universe. As such, they write, “A white hole could be where time begins.”

“Hypothetically, you could have an observer – a hypothetical entity – go through the black hole, through what we think of as a singularity, and emerge on the other side of the white hole. It’s a highly abstract notion of an observer, but it could happen, in theory,” explained Dr. Steffen Gielen, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, who co-wrote the paper with Lucía Menéndez-Pidal from Complutense University of Madrid.

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