Black holes can grow ‘hair’ when spinning fast
An artist's impression of the last moments before the merger of two black holes
Black holes can grow hair-like structures if they spin fast enough, a team of researchers has discovered.
In a new study, researchers used numerical simulations which indicated that black holes can spontaneously erupt what has been described as a hair, once they reach a certain spin speed. This hair is otherwise known as a scalar field.
This new insight is being considered as an extension to Einstein’s theory of gravity -- which says black holes can grow 'hair' but it is eventually shed thanks to gravitational waves.
According to this latest research, however, once black holes reach a certain spin speed, the hair can hang around for longer thanks to “tachyonic instability.”
Additional study and calculations are required to definitively prove the findings.