Interstellar and a sacrifice

With the current physics unit, gravitation force fields, there is a closer relation to our genius hour project. For Ted Talk Thursday, the class was shown the most accurate cinematic depiction of a black hole which is found in the 2014 science fiction movie, Interstellar. The sci-fi movie is one of the first to spend a lot of time collaborating with a theoretical physicist. Prior to the release date, Warner Bros. UK gives the public some insight on the makings of the black hole.

In February 2015, the crew behind the black hole’s production release a paper in the Classical and Quantum Gravity journal. It is a lengthy read, totalling to 41 pages but very descriptive.

Notable things that can be learned from the paper which lead to its accuracy include:

• the use of Einstein’s general relativity equations

e.g. gravitational lensing is an effect where light will warp around the object when it is close

• the use of colour change due to Doppler and gravitational frequency shift

• comparison with mm-interferometer images of black hole shadow and disks observed from the Event Horizon Telescope

Although, it is definitely not perfect according to the science community, the software used to create Gargantua, the black hole in the movie, will allow astrophysicists to model other celestial objects in the future. That’s the end of today’s physics in popular culture segment.

A week ago, our group was discussing potential ways to inform the public about black hole thermodynamics. Hawking radiation, or black hole evaporation, is a significant part of our project as it is the energy that is released from black holes. After it is released the black hole reduces in mass and energy. If the black hole completely evaporates, it will disappear. The evaporation time of a black hole is proportional to the cube of its mass. This means that the greater the mass of a black hole, the longer the evaporation time. For a better understanding of this concept, you can burn a candle or think of it burning. A longer candle, with more mass, will take longer to burn than a shorter candle. If the candle were to burn completely, than there would not be any of it left like if a black hole were to evaporate completely. Do note that the candle is only an everyday example. The physics behind the evaporation of a black hole is still much more complex.

As our group will be doing two experiments, we think that one stationary model and a computer stimulation will be better additions to our project than making different models for each hawking radiation collection method. As our group will be doing two experiments, we think that one stationary model and a computer stimulation will be better additions to our project than making different models for each hawking radiation collection method. It makes me a bit disappointed but it is reality.

Newton's third law. You've got to leave something behind.

– Joseph Cooper, Interstellar

As poetic as it sounds, it does not sound scientifically correct.

#Catherine