Do white holes exist, and what does the Big Bang have to do with it?

The mathematical equations that describe black holes also theoretically allow for opposite objects—white holes. This was explained by Sergei Pilipenko, a senior researcher at the Department of Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology of the Astrospace Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN).

What Is a White Hole

If a black hole absorbs everything that crosses its event horizon, including light, then a white hole, by contrast, lets nothing in. According to the scientist, these are objects "into which even light cannot fall." They represent a kind of time-reversal of a black hole: matter and radiation can only escape outward, never fall inward.

Such solutions appear in general relativity alongside solutions for black holes. However, that is largely where the similarity ends.

Is There Evidence

Scientists have no direct observational data confirming the existence of white holes. Nor are the possible mechanisms for their formation in the real Universe known. For now, these objects remain purely theoretical constructs.

The only possible exception, in the astrophysicist's view, is the Big Bang itself. The birth of the Universe resembles, in some respects, a mathematical solution in the form of a white hole. In this sense, the initial moment of cosmic expansion is sometimes considered as a process akin to the "ejection" of all matter and energy from a special state.

Connection to Other Ideas

Previously, cosmologists discussed hypotheses about primordial black holes that could have formed before the Big Bang and survived to the present day. Such models often rely on the idea of a "cosmic bounce," according to which the Universe first contracted and then transitioned to expansion. White holes sometimes appear in this context as part of more complex theoretical constructs, but robust confirmation remains lacking.

In Brief

Astrophysicist Sergei Pilipenko noted that the equations of general relativity allow for the existence of white holes—objects into which even light cannot fall. There is no direct evidence for their existence, and the mechanisms of their formation remain unknown. The scientist cited the Big Bang itself—the moment of the Universe's birth—as the only possible "candidate" with similar properties.

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