A paradox that stumped scientists for decades has an explanation, as long as the universe has seven dimensions. Stephen Hawking’s theory that black holes eventually evaporate into nothingness presented a contradiction to a fundamental understanding in physics and quantum mechanics. However, a new theory by scientists suggests that black holes never fully disappear and remnants are left behind, as long as there are seven dimensions, three extra to the traditionally accepted four dimensions we have known about for generations.
Scientists believe that, as well as length, width, height and time, there are three hidden dimensions in the universe, and they are folded so densely that they cannot be easily perceived. This seems to solve the decades-old ‘information paradox’, as traditionally, the laws of quantum mechanics state that information can never completely disappear or be destroyed, which contradicts Hawking’s theory that back holes eventually evaporate and cease to exist.
Senior researcher at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Richard Pinčák, told the Daily Mail: “Imagine you throw a book into a fire. The book is destroyed, but in principle you could reconstruct every word from the smoke, ash, and heat — the information is scrambled, not lost.
“We experience three dimensions of space and one of time – four dimensions in total. Our model proposes that the universe actually has seven dimensions: the four we know, plus three tiny extra dimensions curled up so tightly that we cannot directly perceive them.”
According to the new theory, black holes eventually evaporate into the smallest scales possible, with their seven dimensions eventually tangling into a knot. And once the folding of these hidden dimensions happens, it creates an outward force that prevents the black hole from collapsing fully.
Scientists believe this leaves behind a minuscule remnant, 10 billion times smaller than an electron.
Researchers also say they might be able to find traces of these seven–dimensional structures in the Cosmic Microwave Radiation left over from the Big Bang or in ancient ripples in spacetime called primordial gravitational waves.
“The same torsion field… generates a potential energy landscape that is identical in form to the one responsible for giving mass to the W and Z bosons — the carriers of the weak nuclear force,” Pinčák said.
He added: “What distinguishes our approach is that we do not claim semiclassical evaporation operates all the way down to the remnant mass. At that point, a new physical effect … takes over and stabilises the configuration.”