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Could a black hole be ripped apart if it passed directly between two other black holes that were millions of times bigger?

Mark Swartz
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  • It might be useful to specify in more detail what you have in mind. Are you asking more generally: is there a physical sequence which could somehow morph one black hole into two without introducing further matter? – Andrew Steane Feb 24 '24 at 17:01
  • I'm only thinking about how anything can escape black holes, so I'm drawing straws and making guesses, since the math says it's impossible. I was hoping in this case that the pull of gravity in two directions opposite to the smaller black hole's exertion against the outward repulsive force of the primordial matter within could provide some sort of gravitational assist to temporarily lessen the bonds of gravity on the little black hole to allow the repulsive force of the primordial matter within to push outward and escape. A little far fetched I guess. – Mark Swartz Feb 24 '24 at 17:27
  • This guess is also based on an unfounded supposition that the repulsive forces of primordial matter are so strong that black holes are always in state of near explosion, with gravity winning only by a little bit, so that only a relatively small gravitational assist would be needed for the repulsive force of the primordial matter to overcome the bonds of weakened gravity. – Mark Swartz Feb 24 '24 at 18:03
  • Just as a by-the-way: tidal forces near the horizon get smaller not bigger as the black hole mass increases. (It's because the horizon area increases with the mass.) – Andrew Steane Feb 24 '24 at 19:45
  • A classical black hole of any type (even a not fully formed astrophysical one) cannot be destroyed or ripped apart by anything known to science for several reasons (I hope you get a good answer). In your scenario, the horizons will extend toward each other and merge thus joining three black holes into one. The video in the answer below is horrible. Here is a good one. It shows how the horizons extend, the same would happen for three horizons: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1M-AbWIlVQ – safesphere Feb 25 '24 at 04:27
  • What if they were spaced apart at an optimal distance where any gravitational anomaly was just enough to temporarily loosen the bonds holding the primordial matter to allow the repulsive forces of primordial to push out and escape, but far enough apart so they don't merger and the smallest amount of ejected matter ends up in the black holes? – Mark Swartz Feb 25 '24 at 04:44
  • @MarkSwartz To understand why this wouldn’t work, think in terms of gravitational potential. It is maximal at the horizon. Moving other heavy bodies close would only increase it, because gravity is always attractive. So the potential at the horizon cannot be decreased by more gravity no matter how you position the bodies. And therefore the horizon cannot be destroyed. Its overall surface can only increase. So it will extend toward the other black holes and, if close enough, merge them all into one. – safesphere Feb 28 '24 at 18:25
  • Thank you very much Safesphere, it is much appreciated, and I'm not seeing any options for gravitational Fluctuation (weaker/stronger areas), because gravity is too perfect at its job. – Mark Swartz Feb 28 '24 at 23:17

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First, a black hole between two black holes has two places where two black holes are near each other. This is much like two black holes merging. The two do not rip each other apart.

You have probably seen videos showing two black holes circling each other until - blip - there is one black hole. If not, here is one from CalTech. Two Black Holes Merge into One

Here is a numerical simulation from CalTech that shows the final moment of the first merger detected in 2019. You can see the shape is distorted, but not ripped apart. GW190412: Binary Black Hole Merger

enter image description here

mmesser314
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  • I was thinking not about a merger but about passage between the event horizons of the two ultramassive black holes, such that tidal forces act in 2 directions against the inward pressures of the small black hole. – Mark Swartz Feb 24 '24 at 18:43
  • It isn't that different. You are thinking that two holes pull from opposite directions, stretching one in between. But two holes next to each other also stretch each other. A point near a black hole is pulled toward the black hole. A point even closer is pulled much harder. The even closer point is pulled away from the close point. – mmesser314 Feb 25 '24 at 00:58
  • I posted a proof to a thread starting "what happens when electron degeneracy" that singularities take with them all nuclear and degeneracy forces. – Mark Swartz Feb 25 '24 at 21:51
  • This is the link to your post – mmesser314 Feb 26 '24 at 03:22
  • Thank you mmesser314 – Mark Swartz Feb 26 '24 at 03:29