Scientists have recently discovered that tiny primordial black holes were formed in the first few seconds after the Big Bang. According to reports, these black holes were small in size and highly charged, with a mass equal to that of a rhinoceros. However, they evaporated quickly.
The researchers suggest that these 'rhino' black holes represent an entirely new state of matter, condensed with 'coloured charge'. This term refers to a property of fundamental particles called quarks and gluons, related to their strong force interactions, and is not connected to the everyday meaning of 'colour'.
These supercharged black holes are believed to have emerged alongside primordial black holes during the collapse of microscopic regions of ultradense matter that occurred in the first fifth of a second after the Big Bang. Although these newly theorized black holes are said to have evaporated in a fraction of a second after they formed, nevertheless, research suggests they may have influenced major cosmic changes, most notably the formation of the first atomic nuclei.
The researchers propose that these supermassive, charged black holes may have influenced the balance of nuclear fusion in the early universe.
“Although these strange, short-lived entities no longer exist, they may have influenced cosmic history in subtle ways that cannot be detected today,” said David Kaiser, a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a co-author of the study.
He said that within the framework that all dark matter can be attributed to black holes, this discovery provides new avenues for investigations about the mysterious substance that accounts for about 85 percent of the universe's content. In addition, this revelation can help scientists refine existing models of the early universe and its evolution, shedding light on the conditions responsible for the current state of the universe.