The laws of physics demand that we cannot see through a black hole’s event horizon; it is fundamentally impenetrable. Even light cannot escape it.
But in a new study, a physicist from the University of Michigan has proposed a technique to do just that, and his findings could help solve one of science’s most challenging problems.
The study, published in the journal PRX Quantum, even adds weight to the theory that the universe is a hologram.
Wait, the universe is a hologram?
The idea that the universe is a hologram has been misinterpreted as the theoretical physics equivalent of Plato’s Cave, an ancient allegory about mankind’s inability to truly perceive reality, perhaps partially due to the popularity of films such as The Matrix.
But the theory, formally known as Holographic Duality, is actually a mathematical model to reconcile one of science’s greatest conundrums.
“In Einstein’s General Relativity theory, there are no particles, there’s just space-time. And in the Standard Model of particle physics, there’s no gravity, there’s just particles,” explained Enrico Rinaldi, a research scientist at the University of Michigan.
“Connecting the two different theories is a longstanding issue in physics – something people have been trying to do since the last century,” added Dr Rinaldi, one the paper’s authors.
Read More: Is the universe a hologram? Looking inside a black hole suggests it might be
