In 1971, Prof. Hawking showed the possibility that black holes could form very early in the universe. Since the actual nature of dark matter particles is a mystery, he predicted that these primordial black holes (made up of ordinary matter) could behave like dark matter. This results in bending of light rays, coming from a distant star, due to gravitation of a massive object in between such as an early universe black hole. Researchers were hoping to find many instances of stars in Andromeda galaxy, gravitationally lensed by intervening early universe black holes. AdvertisingThis ‘negative result’ vis-a-vis the predictions of Prof. Hawking about early universe black holes have resulted in further advancement of our knowledge about the constituent elements of the Universe.

Source: Indian Express April 02, 2019 08:48 UTC