Black holes created before the Big Bang may have survived into the Universe we see today, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth. These ancient objects could act as "cosmic fossils" and may even help explain dark matter, the invisible material that plays a major role in shaping galaxies across the Universe.
The findings explore the possibility that the Universe did not begin with a single explosive event. Instead, the researchers investigate cosmic 'bounce' models, in which an earlier Universe contracted before reversing course and expanding. Under this scenario, some black holes from that earlier cosmic phase could have survived the transition and remained present ever since as "cosmic fossils."
If the idea proves correct, these primordial black holes could offer clues to several major unanswered questions in cosmology. They might help scientists understand what dark matter is and how the earliest galaxies and other large structures began to form.
Rethinking the Beginning of the Universe
Professor Enrique Gaztañaga, lead author of the study from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation and the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, said: "For almost a century, cosmologists have traced the history of the Universe back to a single dramatic moment known as the Big Bang. In the standard picture, space and time emerged from an extremely hot, dense state around 13.8 billion years ago, followed by billions of years of cosmic expansion and galaxy formation.
