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I found the following in Wikipedia on the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plank_length:
Question: what is the mechanism through which the interaction of a photon with an object could (even in principle) cause the object to become a "minuscule black hole"? I understand that this is a question in principle only, i.e. the required energy is far beyond any technology we can conceive today, any cosmic rays we might observe with technology like Auger, etc.
My first thought was that the photon might accelerate the object, increasing its so-called "relativistic mass" such that it falls within its own Schwarzschild radius. But this appears to be false reasoning: http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~dkoks/Faq/Relativity/BlackHoles/black_fast.html
I am a layperson and don't have the skills to go about finding a better answer myself.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
The task is to measure an object's position by bouncing electromagnetic radiation, namely photons, off it. The shorter the wavelength of the photons, and hence the higher their energy, the more accurate the measurement. If the photons are sufficiently energetic to make possible a measurement more precise than a Planck length, their collision with the object would, in principle, create a minuscule black hole.
Question: what is the mechanism through which the interaction of a photon with an object could (even in principle) cause the object to become a "minuscule black hole"? I understand that this is a question in principle only, i.e. the required energy is far beyond any technology we can conceive today, any cosmic rays we might observe with technology like Auger, etc.
My first thought was that the photon might accelerate the object, increasing its so-called "relativistic mass" such that it falls within its own Schwarzschild radius. But this appears to be false reasoning: http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~dkoks/Faq/Relativity/BlackHoles/black_fast.html
I am a layperson and don't have the skills to go about finding a better answer myself.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
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