How many white holes are there?

Answer 1

A white hole is a mathematical construct. It is not something "real" like a black hole, which could be said to be the "generator" or "origin" of the white hole. The white hole arises as a result of the mathematics that describe what is happening inside a black hole.

Because of the immense gravity involved, a time component in the math is included (thanks to Big Al Einstein). This time component is an expression of "moving time" and speaks to the movement of time in the "forward" direction, like we normally understand it. But the equation will solve with time moving "backwards" just as well as the other way. This gives rise to some possibilities.

Let's get real here. We don't know for sure what's at the bottom of the gravity well of a black hole. Is it a dimensionless point called a singularity or is it a super-compressed ball of ultra-dense matter? We don't know. And with so much uncertainty there, how can we make the call as to whether or not a white hole is a "time machine" with time moving backward or something else? And if it ejects matter as some theories have suggested. Where does the matter come from? The black hole? There are more questions here than answers.

Come away from this with the idea that a white hole is a "gimmick" of sorts that results from some slick mathematics. More than that cannot be said. Note that some things were predicted by looking at mathematical expressions and then saying, "Hmm. If we "reverse the sign" here, the thing still works, and the description of "something" as expressed would have the opposite characteristics of the "real thing" as we know it. Later on, we find the "other thing" and say, "Ah ha!" Will the same thinking apply to the white hole? A white hole is the time reversal of a black hole, another singularity in space-time. Matter emerges unpredictably from a white hole (unlike a black hole, into which matter is drawn). An example of a white hole is the original singularity of the Big Bang.

White holes appear as part of the vacuum solution to the Einstein field equations describing a Schwarzschild wormhole. One end of this type of wormhole is a black hole, drawing in matter, and the other is a white hole, emitting matter. While this gives the impression that black holes in this universe may connect to white holes elsewhere, this turns out not to be the case for two reasons. First, Schwarzschild wormholes are unstable, disconnecting as soon as they form. Second, Schwarzschild wormholes are only a solution to the Einstein field equations in vacuum (when no matter interacts with the hole). Real black holes are formed by the collapse of stars. When the infalling stellar matter is added to a diagram of a black hole's history, it removes the part of the diagram corresponding to the white hole.

The existence of white holes that are not part of a wormhole is doubtful, as they appear to violate the second law of thermodynamics. Quasars and active galactic nuclei are observed to spew out jets of matter. This is now believed to be the result of polar jets formed when matter falls into supermassive black holes at the centers of these objects. Prior to this model, white holes emitting matter were one possible explanation proposed.

A more current view of white holes takes into consideration a revision to the standard model of the big bang theory which states that the big bang is an explosion that happens within a black hole, with the expansion that follows the traditional interpretation of the big bang, expanding into infinite space inside the black hole. Or in other words, a miniature universe is created at the core of the black hole, which expands into extra dimensions outside of this universe. The expansion taking place in this new miniature universe, if it could be perceived from an observer from this universe, could be looked at as a white hole. Matter that could not escape the intense gravitational pull of the black hole in this universe is instead sent speeding into the newly expanding baby universe.

Using that logic, one could assume that our universe itself is a white hole. Hypothetically, this model could be used to explain the increasing rate of expansion of this universe: as matter from our parent universe is engulfed by our parent black hole (the black hole that created our universe), our own universe is fed this matter which could possibly have something to do with dark matter and dark energy, which currently is thought to contribute to the increase in the rate of our universe's expansion.
Don't u mean black hole. Black holes can suck the whole universe. There are millions of them up in space lucky we are still alive. They say after 5 million years this may happen.

Answer 2

Thank you for your interesting question about black holes. As you mentioned in your question, the gravitational pull of a black hole is so strong that anything that gets too close to it cannot escape. The "event horizon" is the closest you can get to the black hole and still escape (but it gets much more difficult to escape as you get close to the event horizon). If you get to the horizon or cross it you can't escape -- even if you travel at the speed of light (and that's the highest speed possible). Since nothing can escape from the event horizon we can never see what is going on inside -- a form of "cosmic censorship". If you were unlucky enough to fall into a very big black hole you might drift past the event horizon without too much trouble (although it would be impossible to go back), and you'd find yourself falling towards the "singularity" at the center. As you get closer to the singularity the strong gravity would try to stretch you out like spaghetti, and when you reached the singularity you'd be squashed. Unfortunately the laws of physics as we know them don't work at the singularity (when everything gets squashed to a point). There is a lot of ongoing research to figure out a new theory of gravity that explains what happens at the singularity. Things may not be so bad, however, if the black hole is spinning. There is a theory that a spinning black hole may have an "Einstein-Rosen" bridge at the center (a bit like a tunnel) that leads from the center of a black hole to the center of a "white hole" in another universe. So, with a very strong spaceship you might be able to enter a black hole here and emerge from a white hole in another universe. A "white hole" is the opposite of a black hole, and has no "event horizon" so you would be able to see the singularity at the center -- and we'd be able to view something that our physics theories cannot explain. If they do exist, white holes should be easy to detect, but they have never been seen. Most physicists think what white holes do not exist, and that something falling into a black hole gets squashed at the singularity and the black hole grows a little larger.

Answer 3

A white hole is the time reversal of a black hole. They are only theoretically, and there are problems with the violation of the second law of thermodynamics

While they are theories, the basic principle of a while hole is as follows...

A star must be made of anti matter for this to happen as anti matter has no gravitational pull keeping it together. This makes way for total output of the star's mass. Theoretically, the white hole will emit matter at a rate so fast, it is similar to the measure of the gravitational pull of a black hole. As nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole, nothing can actually be on the white hole because, not only is there no gravity, but it's mass emission is so great it prevents anything from getting within it's "event horizon".

Answer 4

I belive it is just something from the series "Red Dwarf". I think there could be, on the other hand, because I don't know if there is a such thing as a black hole either. Please pick a better answer, because I do not think mine was really good. I hope this helped!

Answer 5

Theoretically, as large as a black hole. White holes, like black holes have properties like mass, charge, and angular momentum. Consequently a white hole will attract matter like any other mass. However any objects falling towards a white hole would never actually reach the white hole's event horizon, as it is the reverse of a black hole. In example, while a black hole can be entered from the outside, nothing, including light, has the ability to escape. Conversely while a white hole attracts matter, nothing, including light, has the ability to enter from the outside (e.g. matter and light have the ability to escape).

Note: The prevailing hypothesis is that there are no lone white holes. Rather a white hole, in general relativity, is a hypothetical region of SpaceTime which appear in the theory of eternal black holes. In addition to a black hole region in the future, such a solution of the Einstein field equations has a white hole region in its past. However, this region does not exist for black holes that have formed through gravitational collapse, nor are there any known physical processes through which a white hole could be formed.

Answer 6

Like black holes, white holes have properties like mass, charge, and angular momentum. Consequently a white hole will attract matter like any other mass. However any objects falling towards a white hole would never actually reach the white hole's event horizon, as it is the reverse of a black hole. In example, while a black hole can be entered from the outside, nothing, including light, has the ability to escape. Conversely while a white hole attracts matter, nothing, including light, has the ability to enter from the outside (e.g. matter and light have the ability to escape).

(See the related question below for more information.)

Answer 7

White holes are formed almost like black holes, from a large dead star.

Answer 8

The white hole is a theoretical construct dealing with reverse time. We don't know if they exist or not. And it is beyond difficult to find out or prove out the idea.

Answer 9

It's not certain that white holes even exist.

Answer 10

A white hole has never been observed, so we don't know if any white holes exist at all.