Predicted since 1916 as part of the theory of general relativity and supported for several years by indirect observations, the existence of black holes is no longer in doubt for the majority of the scientific community. . However, some scientists continue to look for alternatives to these objects, which could just as well correspond to the observations made.
This is the case with dark energy stars, a type of hypothetical star proposed in 2005 by American theoretical physicist George Chapline, an expert in quantum information theory, condensed matter and quantum gravity. In 1982 and 2003, Chapline received prizes for his work on X-rays and the interpretation of quantum mechanics.
In March 2005, at a conference on quantum gravity models, Chapline argued that quantum mechanics makes the existence of black holes virtually uncertain. Chapline's main reason is that in the context of quantum mechanics, time is absolute; the absence of a temporal operator forces the time to be fixed in the equations.
This is fundamentally incompatible with general relativity, where time is relative, particularly when approaching a black hole, where the proper time of an observer falling towards the event horizon and that of an observer located far from the black hole are different. For the second, the first would seem to be infinitely slowed down at the level of the horizon. Instead, Chapline proposes that a phase transition takes place in phase space, at the level of the event horizon.
He bases this model on the dynamics of sound waves in superfluids. As a column of superfluid grows, the density increases, slowing the speed of sound, which thus approaches zero. However, at this point, quantum physics causes the sound waves to dissipate their energy into the superfluid, so the zero speed condition of sound is never reached.
Related topic:What is a “strange star”?
As it approaches the black hole's horizon, matter breaks down into lighter particles, and at the horizon physical processes accelerate the decay of the proton. This decay could explain the high-energy cosmic rays observed from black holes.
As matter passes the event horizon, its energy is converted to dark energy by a vacuum phase transition. The negative pressure of dark energy keeps spacetime expanding inside the black hole, preventing it from contracting on itself and forming a gravitational singularity. The negative component of dark energy also intervenes in the very high value of the cosmological constant, thus potentially solving the "vacuum catastrophe".
One of the mechanisms of dark energy star formation involves fluctuations in spacetime. These fluctuations can cause vacuum nucleation; this could be akin to the formation of "vacuum bubbles". Such a process could explain the effects currently attributed to dark energy and dark matter.
