研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種把黑洞變成發(fā)電站的新方法

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種把黑洞變成發(fā)電站的新方法

Nothing can escape a black hole once it has crossed its event horizon but mathematical analysis over the last several decades has shown that there are ways to extract energy from a rotating black hole. Researchers have now revealed new work presenting an innovative way to harness energy out of a black hole, publishing their findings in Physical Review D.

一旦黑洞跨越視界，任何東西都無法逃脫，但過去幾十年的數(shù)學(xué)分析表明，有辦法從旋轉(zhuǎn)的黑洞中提取能量。研究人員最近在《物理評論D》上發(fā)表了一項(xiàng)新研究，提出了一種利用黑洞能量的創(chuàng)新方法。

Mathematically speaking, if a black hole rotates then it has an ergosphere. This is a region outside its event horizon (the threshold where to escape the pull of the black hole you’d need to move faster than the speed of light) where it is theoretically possible to steal some of the black hole's energy. Stephen Hawking worked out ways that quantum mechanics can remove energy from black holes. Nobel physicist Roger Penrose has a more mechanical approach that requires following particular orbits. The new work focuses on magnetic fields.

從數(shù)學(xué)上講，如果一個黑洞旋轉(zhuǎn)，那么它就有一個能層。這是在黑洞視界之外的一個區(qū)域(在這個區(qū)域，你需要以比光速更快的速度移動才能逃離黑洞的引力)，在這里理論上可以偷取黑洞的一些能量。斯蒂芬·霍金發(fā)現(xiàn)了量子力學(xué)可以從黑洞中移除能量的方法。諾貝爾物理學(xué)家羅杰·彭羅斯有一個更機(jī)械的方法，需要遵循特定的軌道。這項(xiàng)新工作的重點(diǎn)是磁場。

The magnetic fields of complex objects often exhibit the repeated breaking and rejoining of magnetic field lines. This is seen on the Sun for example, with spectacular releases of energy. Researchers believe that this could be the case for black holes too. The right magnetic interaction could accelerate particles away from the black hole, removing some of its energy.

復(fù)雜物體的磁場常表現(xiàn)為磁力線的反復(fù)斷裂和重新連接。例如在太陽上，能量的壯觀釋放。研究人員認(rèn)為，這可能也適用于黑洞。正確的磁相互作用可以加速粒子遠(yuǎn)離黑洞，從而帶走一些能量。

Dr Alfredo Carpineti

"Black holes are commonly surrounded by a hot 'soup' of plasma particles that carry a magnetic field," Luca Comisso from Columbia University said in a statement. "Our theory shows that when magnetic field lines disconnect and reconnect, in just the right way, they can accelerate plasma particles to negative energies and large amounts of black hole energy can be extracted."

哥倫比亞大學(xué)的盧卡·科米索在一份聲明中說:“黑洞通常被一團(tuán)熱騰騰的‘湯’包圍，這些‘湯’由攜帶磁場的等離子粒子組成。”“我們的理論表明，當(dāng)磁力線以正確的方式斷開和重新連接時，它們可以將等離子粒子加速到負(fù)能量，從而提取大量的黑洞能量。”

The sci-fi reason why this is exciting is that by getting energy from a black hole, you are getting a lot more energy out compared to the energy supplied. The team estimates that the process could have an efficiency of up to 150 percent, something that is unachievable on Earth. So an advanced alien civilization could decide to use a black hole as an incredible power station if it had the know-how.

這個現(xiàn)象之所以令人興奮，是因?yàn)橥ㄟ^從黑洞中獲取能量，你得到的能量比提供的能量要多得多。該團(tuán)隊(duì)估計(jì)，這一過程的效率可達(dá)150%，這在地球上是無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的。所以一個先進(jìn)的外星文明可以利用黑洞作為一個不可思議的發(fā)電站，如果它有這個技術(shù)的話。

The scientific reason it's exciting is that this process might already happen in nature, without the help of intelligent aliens. There are several phenomena surrounding black holes that are not fully understood, such as black hole flares that can be detected from Earth, so it is possible that magnetic reconnection in the ergosphere could help explain what we see.

令人興奮的科學(xué)原因是，這個過程可能已經(jīng)在自然界中發(fā)生了，沒有智能外星人的幫助。還有一些圍繞著黑洞的現(xiàn)象沒有被完全理解，比如可以從地球上探測到的黑洞耀斑，所以能量層中的磁重聯(lián)可能有助于解釋我們所看到的現(xiàn)象。

"Our increased knowledge of how magnetic reconnection occurs in the vicinity of the black hole might be crucial for guiding our interpretation of current and future telescope observations of black holes, such as the ones by the Event Horizon Telescope," said co-author Felipe Asenjo from Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Chile.

“我們對黑洞附近如何發(fā)生磁重連的了解越來越多，這可能對指導(dǎo)我們解釋當(dāng)前和未來的望遠(yuǎn)鏡觀測黑洞(比如視界望遠(yuǎn)鏡觀測到的黑洞)至關(guān)重要。”來自智利阿道夫·伊巴涅斯大學(xué)的合著者菲利佩·阿森霍說。

Perhaps in the future, mining energy from black holes could be the answer to our power needs.

也許在未來，從黑洞中開采能源可以滿足我們的能源需求。

"Thousands or millions of years from now, humanity might be able to survive around a black hole without harnessing energy from stars," Comisso said. "It is essentially a technological problem. If we look at the physics, there is nothing that prevents it."

康米索說:“從現(xiàn)在開始的數(shù)千年或數(shù)百萬年，人類可能能夠在黑洞周圍生存，而不需要利用恒星的能量。這本質(zhì)上是一個技術(shù)問題。如果我們從物理上看，沒有什么可以阻止它。”