💥 Did a black hole explosion impact Earth in 2023?

In 2023, an incredibly high-energy neutrino struck Earth, challenging all conventional explanations. The origin of such a fast particle, whose energy far exceeds that generated by the most powerful accelerators, is leading scientists to consider still-unidentified cosmic phenomena.

A team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst presents a bold proposal: this neutrino could be the remnant from the explosion of a primordial black hole. These hypothetical objects are thought to have formed shortly after the Big Bang, long before stars appeared. Their low mass would allow them to end their existence quickly in a titanic burst, thereby releasing extremely energetic particles.



This scenario is based on Hawking radiation, a theory by physicist Stephen Hawking. According to this principle, black holes emit radiation that causes them to slowly evaporate. The lighter a black hole is, the faster this process accelerates, leading to a final explosion. Primordial black holes, which could be as light as an asteroid, might have generated such events detectable today.

However, the IceCube neutrino detector, located at the South Pole, did not record this event. To justify this absence, the team proposes that the primordial black hole in question possessed a "dark charge." This property, carried by a hypothetical particle called a "dark electron," would alter its behavior and make the neutrino observable only by certain instruments like KM3NeT in the Mediterranean.

If this model is verified, it could help clarify the nature of dark matter. This invisible component of the cosmos, which constitutes the majority of its mass, remains an unresolved question. Primordial black holes carrying a dark charge could make up a significant portion of it, providing an explanation compatible with other astrophysical observations.

This work has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters.