The new set of equations can accurately describe the reflections of the universe that appear in curved light around a black hole. Research published in Scientific Reports.
The configuration of space near black holes can be so complex that light beams are bent around these massive objects several times. Now, thanks to Albert Sneppen, a student at the Niels Bohr Institute, the phenomenon that underlies the effect of gravitational lensing has received a mathematical description for the first time.
He described the appearance of “twins” of gravitationally-lensed objects using modern mathematical apparatus. The student tried to understand the features of space around black holes, where there is such a strong curvature of the spatial fabric that the rays of light deviate from their course.
As you know, in the region of the black hole event horizon, the trajectory of photons can change so much that they fly around the supermassive object several times. As a result, if you observe a black hole against the background of some distant object, you can see several distorted versions of it.
Albert Sneppen’s mathematical description of gravitational lensing explains exactly how such “twins” of lensed objects are born. He found out how the laws of gravity and the principles of the existence of black holes determine the features of the lensing effect. It is worth noting that the scientist, in addition, described lensing, generated not by ordinary, but by rotating black holes.
Once infinite images, close to a black hole, can become a tool for studying not only the physics of space-time of a black hole, but also objects behind them – repeating in infinite reflections.
