Physicists have confirmed that a naked singularity, an event strong enough to break down the conventional physics law, can, in fact, exist in our three-dimensional universe. Previously, scientists could only put naked singularities in a five-dimensional universe, but by demonstrating they can theoretically exist in ours, physicists are challenging the general theory of relativity as defined by Albert Einstein.
Naked singularities are like black holes flipped inside out — suddenly all the weirdness of a black hole would be exposed to the universe. So far a naked singularity has not been detected in a three-dimensional Universe but they are supposed to be formed when massive stars collapse, creating infinite density, which according to the laws of physics is impossible.
“A naked singularity, if such a thing exists, would be an abrupt hole in the fabric of reality – one that would not just distort space-time, but would also wreak havoc on the laws of physics wherever it goes and lead to a catastrophic loss of predictability,” says Avaneesh Pandey from the International Business Times.
Until now, scientists believed black holes and their indecipherable singularities could be reconciled with the general theory of relativity because of the ‘cosmic censorship conjecture’. Basically, it means that normally the singularity aspect of a black hole will remain hidden beneath its event horizon and everything outside of it will continue to act normally. “If true, cosmic censorship means that outside of black holes, these singularities have no measurable effect on anything, and the predictions of general relativity remain valid,” explains Sarah Collins of Phys.org.
However, simulations of naked singularities in five-dimensional universes have made the concept of cosmic censorship null and void, which isn’t a problem when we have no evidence of the existence of other universes. Einstein’s theory can remain unconflicted. Only now, Toby Crisford and Jorge Santos from the University of Cambridge have simulated a three-dimensional universe that can home a naked singularity as well as one with five dimensions.
To be clear, the pair isn’t saying they’ve simulated a naked singularity in our Universe per se – the universe they’ve simulated has three spatial dimensions and one-time dimension like ours, but it’s got a whole different shape. Luckily, this simulated universe, while having three spatial dimensions and one-time dimension, like ours, it has a completely different shape. This simulated universe is shaped like a saddle while ours is usually thought to be flat or disc-shaped.
Because general relativity allows the existence of differently shaped universe Crisford and Santos chose to work a type of curved space called Anti-de Sitter space. A unique part of this type of universe is a ‘point of no return’ where light is reflected back at itself. Because of this feature, the researchers were able to force the naked singularity to form.
So how does this effect us?
Fortunately, it hasn’t yet. Nobody has proven the existent of naked singularities in our own Universe but by showing one could exist in a similar universe, Crisford and Santos have provided an opportunity to explore quantum gravity — something that reconciles quantum mechanics and general relativity as a true ‘theory of everything’.
“The naked singularity we see is likely to disappear if we were to include charged particles in our simulation – this is something we are currently investigating,” said Santos to Phys.org.
“If true, it could imply a connection between the cosmic censorship conjecture and the weak gravity conjecture, which says that any consistent theory of quantum gravity must contain sufficiently charged particles. In Anti-de Sitter space, the cosmic censorship conjecture might be saved by the weak gravity conjecture.”
So while the idea of co-existing with a naked singularity is terrifying, the break-through possibilities it can bring to modern physics is welcomed.
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